Selling a junk or dead car in Alvin

Alvin's three-part test

Alvin Code Compliance boils Section 15-31 down to three questions: is it self-propelled, is the registration expired, and does it not run? Its page adds that a car that runs, or has a current registration, is not in violation however long it sits. Alvin's code calls a car with a lapsed or absent plate junked when it is wrecked, dismantled or discarded. It also qualifies after sitting idle over 72 hours in a row on public land, or over 30 days in a row on private land.

Section 15-30 makes a junked car a public nuisance in Alvin if it is visible from a public place or right-of-way. It does not apply to a car "completely enclosed in a building in a lawful manner and is not visible from the street or other public or private property," or to lawful dealer, junkyard and collector storage. No tarp or car-cover exception appears.

What Section 15-32 sets in motion

Alvin's chief of police, or someone the chief names, writes the notice, "stating the nature of the public nuisance on private property, that it must be removed and abated within ten (10) days, and that a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period." The city mails it certified, return receipt requested, within five days. The registered owner gets one, as do any lienholder and the land's owner or resident.

A hearing before the municipal court happens only if the owner or occupant asks within 10 days. At that point the car is treated as inoperable until the owner proves it is not. Section 15-33 says that if you give the city written permission to take the car at any point after the notice, no hearing is needed.

Two more clauses are worth knowing. Rolling the car across town after the case opens "shall have no effect on the proceeding" if it is still a nuisance there. Under Section 15-34, a car Alvin removes goes to a scrap yard, a demolisher or a city site, and it "shall not be reconstructed or made operable by any person." The state is told within 5 days and cancels the title.

Since the article sets no penalty itself, Section 1-5's general penalty is used. That is up to $500 per violation, and each day counts on its own. Code Compliance takes reports at 281-388-4325 and works from 1100 W Highway 6, Monday through Thursday, 7 am to 6 pm.

Towed off an Alvin street

Section 26-55 lets Alvin police remove a car from a street when they have reasonable grounds to believe it was abandoned, or when it is too disabled to run and the person in charge is incapacitated. A wrecker company that stores a car must call the owner within 24 hours and send certified mail within 10 days with the storage address, the storage rate and its phone number. Police non-emergency dispatch is 281-388-4370.

Brazoria County title and plates

Alvin has no title counter of its own; the Brazoria County tax assessor-collector handles titles. The office we checked is at 237 E. Locust St., Suite 104, Angleton, (979) 864-1320, about 22 miles southwest of the middle of Alvin as the crow flies. That is where the buyer files. Your name stays on the Texas record until a new title comes out.

This is where the Vehicle Transfer Notification earns its keep for Alvin sellers: send it within 30 days, either online or on Form VTR-346. Hand the buyer a signed title showing the sale date and odometer reading, plus Form 130-U signed with the price. Texas asks for no notary. You may take the plates and the sticker, but the sticker will not transfer with the plates. Brazoria is among the 17 counties where emissions testing continues. See car doesn't run and after you sell for more.

Getting an offer

Tell us about your Alvin car online or at (877) 421-6008. Pickup can happen right in Alvin, in Friendswood, 5.9 miles away, or in League City. The Texas page has the statewide rules.