Hometown is one of the smallest places we serve: a city of about half a square mile in Worth Township, with a single ZIP code, 60456. Its northern edge runs along 87th Street between Cicero Avenue and Pulaski Road, and the Ashburn neighborhood of Chicago is right across that street. Oak Lawn wraps around the south and west sides, which is why local kids go to Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123.
The town’s look comes from one builder. After World War II, Joseph E. Merrion put up rows of low-cost duplex homes for returning GIs, and Census Bureau survey data still shows about three of every four homes in single-unit attached buildings. Most households own their place. In practice, a junk car in Hometown tends to be in a driveway beside the neighbor’s half of the duplex, in a carport, or at the curb out front.
Less than 2 miles from the middle of our area
From 79th Street and Pulaski Road, the route planner puts Hometown at under 2 miles: about a mile south on Pulaski, a short jog onto Columbus Avenue, then Southwest Highway into the middle of town. Cicero Avenue (Illinois Route 50) marks the west side. A driver finishing a job in Ashburn can often swing down the same afternoon, though we’ll only give you a time once we’ve talked.
Street parking: the 2 a.m. rule and snow routes
Hometown’s street rules are tighter than most people expect. Under the city code, no one may park on a city street for longer than 30 minutes between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. unless the police have issued a permit. A broken-down car gets only a short exception, capped at 24 hours, and only with notice to the police. A car that dies out front can’t sit there while you think it over.
Winter makes it stricter. Every street in Hometown is a designated snow route, so once 2 inches or more of snow falls, parking on the street is off until the snow has been fully removed, and cars left there can be towed without notice. The code also allows removal after a posted 48-hour notice for street cleaning or sewer work.
On top of that, any vehicle used or parked on Hometown streets needs a current city vehicle sticker on the lower right of the windshield. A dead car with an expired sticker is two problems at once.
Hometown’s 14-day test for an inoperable car
The rules reach into driveways too. Article 19 of the city code, last amended in May 2025, makes it unlawful to park, keep or store an inoperable vehicle on any property in Hometown. The definition covers a vehicle that has sat in public view on private property for 14 days or more and can’t be driven safely or legally because the engine, wheels or other parts are gone.
Two presumptions catch people off guard. If a car hasn’t moved for 14 days in a row and it’s under a cover or tarp, the code presumes it’s inoperable. The same goes for one without a current Hometown sticker. When the police decide a car qualifies, they put a “Notice of Intent to Tow” sticker on the window and mail a certified letter. You then have 7 days from that letter to ask for a hearing, and the code allows up to 30 more days when the car is being sold or quickly repaired. The exact wording is in Hometown’s vehicle definitions and removal sections.
If one of those stickers is on your windshield, call us before the deadline. Selling the car and having it hauled off the property is usually the simplest way out. Our guide to inoperable car rules in the southwest suburbs shows how nearby towns handle the same situation.
Places drivers use to find the car
A cross street is usually enough in a town this size. Hometown Shopping Center, Unity Park, Anderson Park, Patterson Park with its ball fields, and Hammond Hall, the community center, all help a driver pin down a block. Metra’s SouthWest Service tracks pass through town without a stop, so “on the side by the tracks” plus a street name works as well.
Selling your car to Masters Cash for Junk Cars
Call (708) 838-5553, any time; we’re available 24 hours, every day. You can also send the year, make, model and condition through the cash offer form. We buy cars, trucks, vans and SUVs that are wrecked, stripped, burned, flooded or missing keys. We don’t buy good running cars to resell.
The offer already accounts for the tow, so nothing is subtracted for the truck (how our free towing works). You’re paid at pickup, right there, by Zelle, Cash App or cash.
For paperwork, tell us what you’ve got: title, registration, a bill of sale or an insurance card. Illinois rules decide which of those can be used for a scrap sale, and we confirm which applies to your car on the call. Our page on junk cars without a title explains more.
Just over the line
North of 87th Street is Ashburn, the middle of our service area, and the streets south and west of Hometown belong to Oak Lawn, which we also cover. Every area we serve is on our service areas page.
Map of Hometown
Hometown questions
Can a car that died on my Hometown street just stay there for a few days?
Not for long. The city code bars parking on any street for more than 30 minutes between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. without a police permit, and a disabled vehicle gets a temporary pass of no more than 24 hours, only if the police know about it. Call the police, then call us so we can try to clear it the same day.
Is a covered car in my driveway a problem in Hometown?
It can be. Hometown presumes a vehicle is inoperable when it hasn't moved for 14 days in a row and sits under a cover or tarp, or has no current city sticker. Storing an inoperable vehicle on any property in town is unlawful, so a long-parked car under a tarp is the kind the code targets.
What papers do I need to sell a junk car in Hometown?
Tell us what you have when you call: the title, a registration, a bill of sale or an insurance card. Illinois rules, not city rules, decide which of those papers work for a scrap sale, so we check your situation on the call before the truck heads over.
Do I have to wait at home for the tow truck?
Someone needs to be there to hand over the papers and take the payment, because we pay at pickup. If the car sits in a shared driveway or behind a neighbor's car, let us know ahead of time so the space is clear when the driver pulls up.