Selling a dead or junk car in Cedar Hill

What Cedar Hill calls junked

Section 9-106 starts with the plate. It covers a self-propelled vehicle that "displays an expired license plate or invalid motor vehicle registration certificate," or shows none. Then one more thing must be true:

• it has crash damage, has been stripped or partly taken apart, or has been discarded, or
• it has not run for over 72 consecutive hours parked on public land, or over 30 consecutive days parked on private land.

Trailers are in it too. A trailer whose plate or registration is out of date or missing becomes a "junked trailer" on the same tests, so a broken utility trailer behind the house counts.

Section 9-107 makes either one a public nuisance whenever it sits in plain sight of the street or other public ground. Keeping one is a misdemeanor, $200 is the maximum fine, every violation stands alone, and a conviction brings a removal order. Section 9-126 adds that using land to store or sell junked or wrecked cars is a nuisance of its own.

How the two clocks run

1. Notice. Section 9-109 wants ten days or more of written warning, handed over or mailed, either certified or by USPS with signature confirmation. Each lienholder, the registered owner and the landowner or tenant get one. Day ten is the deadline to clear the car. File any hearing request before it. When the post office returns the letter, the city holds off until at least day eleven after the return.
2. Hearing. Ask for one in writing at the municipal court. Section 9-110 puts it "not earlier than the eleventh day" after service, and says "it is presumed that the vehicle, trailer, or any part thereof, is inoperable unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner."
3. Order. A nuisance finding gives the owner ten days from the order. After that, code enforcement takes the car.

Towing the car to some other Cedar Hill address mid-case has "no effect on the proceeding," per Section 9-112. Once taken, nobody may rebuild a car or trailer or make it run again, and the state hears of it inside five days. The one shelter on your own lot is a building that hides the car fully from the street and the neighbors.

On the street

Under Section 11-126, no one may leave a vehicle on a street or alley "for a continuous period of time longer than forty-eight (48) hours." A vehicle that cannot move under its own power may not be parked or stored on any public right-of-way, in any district. Police may impound a car left where parking is banned or time-limited, and the city's impound fee is due before release.

For a code notice, write to code@cedarhilltx.com or call 972-291-5100, ext. 1111. Police non-emergency dispatch, 972-223-6111, answers around the clock.

Two counties, two tax offices

Cedar Hill straddles Dallas and Ellis counties. Dallas County's tax office, (214) 653-7811, sits at 500 Elm Street Suite 1200 in Dallas, roughly 16 miles northeast as the crow flies. Ellis County's, (972) 825-5150, is at 302 N Monroe St in Waxahachie, roughly 15 miles southeast.

TxDMV tells sellers to give the buyer a properly signed title that lists the sale date and mileage. It also asks for a signed Form 130-U, the title and registration application, showing the price. Texas does not want a notary on any of it. Keep a record of the buyer's contact information, the sale date and the VIN. Take the plates if you want them. The registration sticker will not transfer to another car. A transfer notification filed inside 30 days keeps later tickets and tolls off your name.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or start online. Send us a few lines about your Cedar Hill car. We can collect from a driveway, an apartment lot, or a shop that couldn't repair it. Nearby pages cover Duncanville, DeSoto and Glenn Heights. Texas has the state rules, and car doesn't run covers the rest.