Brown signs bill warning buyers of vehicle damage

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill requiring car dealers to mark junk vehicles with a sticker alerting potential buyers to damage.

The governor announced his signing of AB1215 by Democratic Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield of Sherman Oaks on Monday.

Under the legislation, California becomes the first state to require dealers to post a prominent marker identifying vehicles that are listed in a federal database as junk cars, salvage or inundated during floods.

Blumenfield says the law will protect consumers. The bill also requires car dealers to register vehicles electronically starting next July, a process that is estimated to save the state more than $9 million a year.

Additionally, the bill raises the fee dealers can charge for titles and registrations to $80, while allowing them to charge extra for filing registrations electronically.

NEWS SOURCE

For Denver man, no junk left behind

A lifelong love of collecting rundown car parts has given Grady Ballard lots to play with in retirement. His latest project: making a joy ride of a '39 Ford.

DENVER, N.C. Grady Ballard's car turns heads.

If he flies by you in the opposite lane, you may wrench your neck.

Pass him, and you will slow down for longer look.

It is a rat rod, made of an opportunistic assortment of parts from the '39 Ford truck grille in front to the scratch built tailgate with Harley pipes underneath. In between, a large photo of Sarah Palin smiles from the doors.

For Ballard, now 70, it's the result of a 56-year love affair with junky cars.

"I've got the love of old cars in my heart, the rat rods," he said. "I could afford them when I couldn't afford the other stuff."

He bought his first car back in 1960, a '31 Ford roadster with a 1955 Oldsmobile engine, cut low enough so you just slid over the top to get in it.

"It would run 60 mph in low gear and 100 in second," he recalls. "I would never dream of running it in high gear because the front end was just all over, it took both hands to hold it on the road."

He dreamed of building another during his 50 years at work at Ethan Allen and CommScope. Two years before he retired in May 2009, he started gathering parts and forming ideas for what would be his full-time hobby. With the help of welders John and Jim Ballard (no relation) in Stanley, his dream took shape. It was finished the month he entered retirement.

Rat rods - which are thrown together from old and rusty spare parts - are different from slicker hot rods. Back in the day, hot rods were easier to build because the parts were in better shape.

Nowadays, original parts usually can only be found rusting in forgotten places. For his latest ride, Ballard found a 1941 Ford truck cab in the woods sitting on the ground, the floor completely corroded away.

His dream ride is true to the custom of old-school rat rodders. The cab is appointed with '84 International school bus seats and instruments. It's all mounted on a 1975 Toyota long bed truck frame sporting a Toyota engine with Harley Davidson tail pipes growling out back.

All this painted black and red with rust proudly showing through in spots, with Rat Fink stickers and the smiling portrait of the former governor of Alaska. The rear bumper is what he calls a "formality," made from an old horse collar.

It is a work of art, one that he drives daily without worrying about the rigors of the road.

"Anybody can throw something together that just looks horrible, but to build a real pretty rat rod you have to know what they mean and represent," he said. "You have to have that inside of you that I call artist."

Saturday, Ballard hosted the 4^th annual G & T Rodz Old School Rat Rodz show at his home near Denver. He expected around fifty entrants, all vying for one of eight trophies he has made from old car parts. Seven of the prizes are standard best of show designations. But the eighth, the Biggest Piece of ... Trophy, may be the most coveted. Grady has incorporated real animal droppings on this one, so the winner should store it in a cool, dry place, like a basement garage.

NEWS SOUTRCE

Junk Yards Litter The Border Of Guilford And Randolph County

Thomasville, NC -- A viewer contacted 2 Wants To Know about the junk yards that are visible from the roads.

We found out there are ordinances against these eyesores, and covering them up is key to selling this area.

As you drive into Davidson County and reach the Guilford County/Randolph County line, you see more than one junk yard in plain view.

Realtor Robin Russell said curb appeal means a lot.

"It's a person's first impression of an area," he explained. Looking at the corridor of junk yards, Russell said it's unsightly.

"Well, certainly with screening, it could hide it from cars. People passing through. It could look a whole lot better than it looks," he added.

Ceith Halipilias is aware of the Davidson County ordinance. He began moving junk cars the moment we asked him about them.

He owns J.C. Nizzan Auto Salvage & Repair just outside of Thomasville.

The ordinance requires fencing and screening to keep the cars from being seen. He said he doesn't want his operation to deter other businesses from moving into the area.

"Especially for the economy of the area which is definitely down because of the moving of the furniture companies and that type thing so it's very, very important to me," shared Halipilias.

Zoning officers say the problem comes with older junk yards.
New junk yards must have fencing and screening. The older ones in Davidson County eventually do.

But across the highway in Trinity which is in Randolph County, the older ones are grandfathered in and don't have to comply.

NEWS SOURCE

Tow truck drivers hooked into scrap metal scam

Police say criminals are casing junk cars in random yards, calling tow companies, and getting cash as the car is towed away for scrap.

Desperate times, desperate measures, said Ryan Haluptzok about a new scam in the scrap metal market.

Haluptzok, owner of Classic Towing and Recycling in Duluth, has been scammed by people selling him junk cars they don’t own. According to the Duluth Police Department, criminals are casing junk cars in random yards, calling tow companies, and getting cash as the car is towed away for scrap.

“People come home and say, ‘Hey, my car is gone,’” police Sgt. Chad Nagorski said.

Cases are under investigation, Nagorski said, mainly because of the cooperation of towing companies that have been duped. It’s happened twice in the past month to Haluptzok.

“I bought a couple downtown,” he said.

It isn’t uncommon that people don’t have a title to show proof of ownership, Nagorski and Haluptzok both said, especially if it looks like the car’s been sitting a long time. While Haluptzok will take a car without proof of ownership, those who are selling are required to provide driver’s licenses.

Police are trying to verify whether the identities offered were legitimate.

“Scrap prices are going up,” Haluptzok said, so he isn’t really surprised to hear about the scam. He’s been giving $150 to $250 per car recently.

In August, the St. Paul Police Department made 10 arrests in a similar scrap car operation after a three-month investigation. More than 50 vehicles were claimed illegally and sent to scrap yards. In some cases, tow truck drivers were involved in the scam.

After those arrests, officials called for tighter state law on providing proof of ownership.

Nagorski said no tow truck operators are suspected in Duluth and they have been cooperative with police after being told about the scam.

“We don’t believe at all that they are involved,” he said.

Nagorski said thieves have sold cars in Superior as well, part of what tipped Duluth officers to a growing trend.

“There are a lot of cars in yards in Duluth,” he said.

He said the appeal of the scam is that the criminals “don’t have to touch anything,” Nagorski said, they just call, get the cash and walk away.

Duluth police are asking residents to watch their neighborhoods for tow trucks, exchanges of cash, or any other peculiar activity. Nagorski said there will be a response to such reported activity. With the help of towing companies, salvage yards and the public, “this can be prevented,” he said.

Haluptzok is being more careful about anyone selling a car for scrap.

“The average person will have keys for it, give some history,” he said. “It’s not often that we run into a problem. But when we get two in a row, that’s something.”

NEWS SOURCE

Ordinance a tricky topic in Ronda

Frances Hayes

Ronda commissioners discussed a proposed nuisance ordinance during their September meeting on Tuesday night.

"We need to look over this very carefully and take our time with it," said Commissioner Sam Foster.

"I am very leery of this. Are we letting in more government interference and having less for the individual," said Foster.

"We are a community and we have to have standards," responded Mayor Victor Varela. "This can affect our property values."

The proposed nuisance ordinance was partially prepared by Benchmark of Kannapolis and was presented during the July meeting. The nuisance ordinance would restrict junk cars in the yard and other upkeep issues. Benchmark is a firm that writes and enforces town ordinances.

Commissioners have been reading over the ordinance since then before a final draft is written by the town's lawyer, Bob Laney.

Restricting junk cars and indoor furniture from residents' yards was particularly mentioned by town officials during the meeting.

"Does this mean people can't have a couch on their front porch," asked Lahoma O'Lague, town administrator.

Commissioners wondered if junk cars and lumber from housing repairs could be in the backyards of town residents.

"Can't we say something about items being a certain distance from the road before banning them," suggested Foster.

Mayor Varela told Foster he needed to talk to a cross section of residents about what they want in a nuisance ordinance.

"I have talked to residents and many of them don't want this. They want to have a couch on their front porch," said Foster. "This is a slippery slope."

Commissioner Brenda Miller pointed out that an unmowed yard, banned in the proposed ordinance, causes rats and snakes.

"Let's go through this again and fine tune it to make changes for the next meeting," said Varela.

The ordinance, once approved, will be enforced by Benchmark. Varela said penalty fines for not obeying the ordinance would be structured so it covered the town's cost for hiring Benchmark.

Commissioners hope to approve the revised ordinance during the October meeting.

Update on the sewer, water

Varela said around 100 people are on the waiting list for water in the Pleasant Hill area. Grading has been completed on the pump station in that area and pipes are out for placement.

"We are just waiting for the pump station to be built," said Varela.

Lightning storms on Sept. 6 hit the pump station located near Memorial Park, the town's park near the Yadkin River.

Three thousand gallons of sewage spilled out around the station, said town officials. Alarms did not go off and no other signals were made for assistance. Also the generator did not begin working.

"They should have come on," said Varela. He said this is not the first time problems have occurred with the pump station.

Varela plans to discuss the pump station problems during a called meeting of the Yadkin Valley Sewer Authority on Thursday in Elkin.

Memorial Park

The town did not receive a state grant for improvements to Memorial Park, but were encouraged to resubmit the bid in January. Commissioners plan to meet one more time, before ordering basic playground equipment for the park. The town will pay for the equipment, which will include a swing set, slide and more.

Miscellaneous

Commissioners agreed to require landlords and new tenants to sign for water before it is turned on at the town hall.

Laney said enforcement of the town's Animal Control Ordinance is provided by the sheriff's department, following a discussion on dog problems.

NEWS SOURCE

Bladensburg steps up efforts to kick abandoned vehicle problems to the curb

Code enforcement urges residents to report cars without tags

by Daniel J. Gross, Staff Writer

Due to a surge of incidents in Bladensburg, code enforcement plans to start cracking down harder on abandoned vehicles and vehicles without tags cases.

From the beginning of the year through the end of August, there were 168 abandoned vehicle reports, of which 11 vehicles were impounded, said Tim McNamara, the town’s code enforcement director.

Last year there were 175 reports, of which 18 abandoned vehicles were impounded, McNamara said.

Tim McNamara, the town’s code enforcement director, said by the rate the reports are coming in, the town will likely see many more this year.

Apart from the increase in numbers, McNamara said the issue is also a problem because as the temperatures drop, rodents will use the abandoned vehicles as shelter and be closer to residential properties.

“We will start cracking down harder when weather gets colder,” McNamara said. “If you’re not going to fix it and it’s a piece of junk, we remove it for free so [vehicle owners] are not going to pay for that.”

He said code enforcement will impound abandoned vehicles free of charge, using Henry’s Wrecker Service in Bladensburg.

“That way, residents can’t say that we’re just doing this to make money,” McNamara said.

He also said that abandoned vehicles are naturally hazardous because children tend to play inside them or around them and harm themselves or lock themselves inside. He said there have not been any recent cases in Bladensburg.

“But there has been across the country where kids have locked themselves in the trunk of abandoned vehicles and have been found days later dead,” McNamara said.

Councilman Cris Mendoza (Ward 1) said reporting an abandoned vehicle is important because it can occasionally lead to the discovery of a stolen vehicle.

Mendoza said the problem is not so much dealing with residents who literally abandon their vehicles, but more so from residents who have not placed tags on their vehicle or have not renewed them.

“For most part it’s someone who hasn’t put tags on but every rare occasion it will be a stolen vehicle from a robbery or something. The best thing to do is report it,” he said.

Bladensburg Police Chief Charles Owens said the department does not keep track of how many abandoned vehicle reports lead to the discovery of stolen vehicles, but said out of 75 cases of motor vehicle theft in 2011, 23 have been recovered locally.

Owens said he agreed with McNamara that abandoned cars present a hazard and need to be reported for the town to take action.

“It’s a problem in this entire area. It’s called blight. A lot of times people drop their cars off on the side of the street just to get rid of them,” Owens said. “It can represent a traffic hazard, especially at night. Sometimes in bad weather drivers can’t see them and crash in to them.”

McNamara said most of their reports come from business and shopping center parking lots, where people will take the tags and leave the car there. He said when that happens they speak with the owner or agent of the shopping or business center and have them sign off on the removal of the vehicle.

NEWS SOURCE

Used Car Buyers Beware: Flood-Damaged Vehicles Will Hit the Market Soon

By Laura Rowley

Diane Zielinski bought a used car for her 17-year-old son at a dealership in Quakertown, Pa., about a decade ago. She paid $3,500 for the maroon Pontiac Grand Am. Three weeks later, her son called from a dark country road at 9 p.m. He had heard a loud bang, and then engine on the car had blown apart.

"There were pieces of engine and oil all over the ground," Zielinski recalls. "He could have been hurt."

While Zielinski called the dealer, her son came across the website for carfax a nationwide database that tracks vehicle histories. He entered the Grand Am's vehicle identification number, and learned that his car had been flooded in New Jersey during Hurricane Floyd, declared a total loss, and given a salvage title. Somewhere along the line after that, a clean title had been forged.

"The car should have been nowhere but in the junk yard," says Zielinski, who got no compensation from the dealer, and was charged $200 for towing it back to the dealership. (She refused to pay.)

Used car buyers should be on the lookout for flood-damaged cars following Hurricane Irene, one of the most destructive storms to hit the East Coast in decades. About half of flood-damaged vehicles find their way back to market, says Chris Basso, Carfax spokesman.

And, given the recent historic flooding in New England, "it could be in the tens of thousands of cars easily," he says. "It takes a few months for us to see those cars reappear for sale, but we expect the cars to start washing up all over the country before the end of the year." (Some 600,000 vehicles were damaged in the Gulf region in 2005 during Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita; Hurricane Ike in 2008 affected 100,000 vehicles in Texas, according to Carfax.)

How a 'Salvage' Car Gets a Clean Title

Flooded vehicles are dangerous because the water damages the mechanical and electrical systems that control safety features. That means anti-lock brakes and turn signals can fail, airbags may not deploy in an accident, or -- as in Zielinski's case -- the entire engine can simply blow up. "It's almost a ticking time bomb in terms of what's going to go wrong," says Alec Gutierrez, manager of vehicle of valuation at Kelley Blue Book.

Health issues are another concern. "This isn't Deer Park spring water that flooded the car," says Basso. "It has chemicals and filth that gets into the seats and ventilation, and can result in a buildup of mold and bacteria."

How do these cars wind up back on the market? Typically, an insurance company claim is filed on a flooded car, and it's declared a total loss or repaired. That information is reported to the state department of motor vehicles, and a "salvage title" is issued. Most of those vehicles are refurbished and resold through salvage auctions, and properly branded with full disclosure.

But a salvage dealer can purchase the car and move it to a state that doesn't track that information, resulting in a clear title from that state, says Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for auto information website Edmunds.com. "When it's resold, the next buyer wouldn't know its history," says Reed. "We have 50 states and not all of them talk to each other. Sellers take advantage of that."

Sellers can also forge a fake title or try to alter the real one (the term "title washing" comes from a chemical scammers once used to remove the ink of the title brand). Used car shoppers should check the VINs of any car they are considering at Carfax, or the National Insurance Crime Bureau to see if the title has ever been branded. If so, walk away -- there are plenty of other choices.

What to Watch Out For

The other source of flood-damaged vehicles are individual sellers, who market the vehicles online or on the side of the road. "You could have a car that sat in standing water and then the owner tries to turn around and sell it," says Reed. "There will be no documentation of this, so the subsequent buyer would have to detect it by physical evidence on vehicle itself."

That evidence can include discoloration in the interior upholstery or carpet, or fabric that's been recently replaced; brittle, dry or flaky electrical wires under the dashboard; soot or rust in the trunk or engine bay; and a musty, mildewy or overly perfumed smell, says Gutierrez.

When turn on the ignition to take a test drive, make sure all of the warnings and accessory lights turn on, says Gutierrez: "If the lights are flickering or not working properly it could be another warning about electrical system."

The best line of defense is to take the vehicle to a mechanic you trust to check it out.

When she saw the recent floods, Zielinski's thoughts turned back to her family's experience a decade ago; she's worried other used car buyers will confront the same scam. "What upset me more than anything was to think my kid could have been hurt by buying this car," she says. "Anything could have happened."

NEWS SOURCE

Caroline changing property maintenance code

Numerous complaints cause commissioners to take action

By DANIEL DIVILIO Staff Writer

DENTON Caroline County officials are working on a new property maintenance code to address dilapidated and abandoned houses they think are blights on the area's landscape and safety hazards for neighbors.

Larry Porter, vice president of the Caroline County Commissioners, has been calling for the creation of a property maintenance code that will help rid the county of homes that have stood vacant for years or are otherwise causing neighboring property values to decline.

Caroline County Department of Planning and Codes Director Katheleen Freeman appeared Tuesday before the commissioners to discuss what such a code could include and enforcement issues.

"This is almost exclusively complaint-driven," said Freeman of the county's current enforcement efforts.

Freeman said her department is grappling with the issue of trash and junk cars in yards and partially collapsed homes. She said the department receives complaints about such properties, but lacks proper legal recourse to handle them.

Freeman said for those properties with junk and litter in the yards, Planning and Codes issues a notice for an illegal salvage yard operation. She said it is the only area of the county code addressing such an issue and letters citing it often cause recipients confusion.

Freeman said the code does address partially collapsed homes, though it only requires them to be boarded up so no one can get inside. She said that does not help address neighbors' concerns about having such a house remain standing next door.

Freeman said the county could look into expanding its nuisance ordinance, which now only addresses dust and noise, and Caroline County Administrator Ken Decker said the law could be amended to include junk, broken out windows and abandoned buildings.

Michael Savage, chief inspector for Middle Department Inspection Agency Inc., gave a presentation about his company's enforcement efforts on behalf of other jurisdictions. Savage showed pictures of various types of safety violations, both exterior and interior, Caroline could add to its code.

"If we enforced every line of that property maintenance code, we'd have a lot of homeless people in Caroline County," said Commission President Jeff Ghrist.

Ghrist said the commissioners' goal is to get rid of homes creating blights in neighborhoods. He said kicking people out, though, because they cannot afford repairs is going too far.

"My theory is if we are going to collect taxes from people based on the value of their property, we should at least have something in place that's going to help them protect the value of their property," he said

Most jurisdictions issue letters requiring a violation to be fixed within a center timeframe, but cases wind up in court and take much longer to be resolved, an issue Porter said he is concerned about. He said he wants to see the penalty phase addressed in any new legislation presented to the commissioners.

Freeman asked for two months to draft a new property maintenance code for the county and said she would bring it piecemeal for the commissioners' review while it is being created.

NEWS SOURCE

Corinth cracks down on junk vehicles

Reported by: Julee Brown
Email: jbrown@wtva.com

CORINTH, Miss. (WTVA) - The City of Corinth has had enough with the same junk vehicles just sitting. The final notice sent out this week gives residents 10 days to do something about these vehicles that have littered lawns for months and even years.

"We originally gave residents (a long grace period) a 30 day notice. But now that period of grace is shorter," said Kim Ratliff with Community Development and Planning.

Ratliff defined a junk vehicle as any vehicle not working, without a current license plate and a current inspection sticker.

Homeowner Larry Nelms is glad to know the city is cracking down and cleaning up the neighborhoods.

"In the last three months, there have been wreckers running just removing junk cars and unsightly sores to the public," Nelms said.

Mr. Nelms repairs and restores lawnmowers. While he's somewhat in the junk businesses, you wouldn't know it by the organization of his garages.

"The junk lawnmowers are fenced away so the public can't see it," said Nelms.

The city hopes that the residents receiving the letter will conceal their junk like Mr. Nelms or remove it all together to prevent further action.

The offense is considered a misdemeanor with a fine ranging from $10 to $100 per day.

NEWS SOURCE