Selling a dead or junk car in Hobbs

What the Hobbs code we read covers

Section 15.20.030 sets parking minimums "for all new commercial construction." It says "No vehicle shall exit an off-street parking area by backing up into a public street," and parking must sit "a minimum of fifteen (15) feet from front or side street curb or pavement edge." Public parking areas, including their accesses from the public right-of-way, "shall be maintained to assure safe passage of motor vehicles." That is about how a business lot is built, not about how long a broken car may stay in a home driveway. We found no section with a junk-vehicle test or a deadline after notice, so call the city before you assume there is none.

A car left on your Hobbs property

When the car belongs to someone else, the state's lien process is the route, and the MVD says a surety bond may not stand in for it. An "Abandoned Vehicle Lien" opens to the landowner once the car has sat for an unreasonable time, generally 30 days at minimum, as long as the car is in New Mexico and in their possession. The landowner then mails MVD-10058 (the lien notice for mechanics and landowners) to whoever holds the registration and to any lender, certified or registered, and they have 10 days to pay. If the titling state answers NO RECORD, the car is advertised for public auction in a county newspaper.

Age changes the ending. Once a car is at least eight years along, a licensed dismantler may take it on an NCIC clearance alone. A younger one, or one being resold, has to be titled through the lien process. See car abandoned on your property.

If a tow company is holding your car and you have not picked it up and paid towing and storage, it can claim its own lien. A tower that takes title that way records the mileage as NM, not actual. Towed or impounded covers getting ahead of that.

Signing the car over in New Mexico

The New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division handles titles through its field offices, and private MVD partners and some municipal offices process transactions too. We have not checked which office is best for Hobbs, so the MVD info line, 1-888-683-4636, is the place to ask.

• Title. The assignment goes on the reverse, along with the miles showing on the odometer. When that block runs short or is left incomplete, Bill of Sale MVD-10009 completes the hand-off. The seller steps list no notary.
• Loan paid off. Bring the lender's release, either on MVD's 10041 or as a notarized letter on the lender's letterhead.
• Lost title. Order a replacement with MVD-10901 for $5, in person or through the Vehicle Services Bureau by post. See junk car with no title.
• Notice of sale. Mail form MVD-10048 so the Sold Unit in Santa Fe knows the car changed hands. Lying on it is "perjury, a fourth degree felony."
• Plates. They are yours, not the buyer's. You get 30 days to turn them in for destruction or put them on a same-class vehicle you own.

Two rules a Lea County seller can skip worrying about: emissions tests apply only in Bernalillo County, and no periodic safety inspection shows up on the MVD pages. One that does matter: a car an insurer declared nonrepairable can change hands only to a licensed wrecker, or to a processor licensed in another state.

Towns near Hobbs

As the crow flies, Carlsbad is 66.9 miles away, Roswell 90.9 and Clovis 118.1. Statewide rules sit on the New Mexico page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form to describe the car. We want its make and year, how many miles it has, if it will start, and the name on the title. Pickup costs nothing, and our driver comes to its spot in Hobbs, a back yard or a shop lot alike. Once it is gone, after you sell covers the plate and the MVD notice.