Selling a dead or junk car in Denison

Two kinds of problem car

Denison's code names both. An inoperable vehicle, under Section 13-70, is any vehicle that "cannot be operated on the public roadway due to lack of current registration or physical condition." A junked vehicle carries an expired plate or no plate, and it is either wrecked, dismantled in part or whole, or discarded, or it has been unable to run longer than 72 hours on Denison public property, or 30 days on private property.

Both are public nuisances when visible. Section 13-73 counts an inoperable car seen from a public place, adjoining private property or a right-of-way, and it sets a clock: one "not abated or removed within a thirty-day time period beginning from the date of the first notice of the public nuisance will be declared a junked vehicle." Section 13-71 makes keeping a visible junked vehicle an offense.

The fixes are the same for both: "a solid opaque fence" between the car and the right-of-way or neighbors, or a building. Exempt are a car kept wholly indoors where no one can see it, licensed dealer or junkyard stock, or a collector's antique screened by a fence, "rapidly growing trees," shrubbery or similar means.

Notice, hearing and fines

Section 13-72 gives at least 10 days' notice. Delivery is certified mail with a five-day return request, or USPS with signature confirmation. Lienholders, the registered owner, and the property owner or occupant all get one, and with no known address it may simply go on the car. Removal is due in 10 days; ask for a hearing before they run out. If a notice comes back, the city waits 11 days or more past the return.

On request, the municipal court hears the case within 10 days after service. Unless the owner proves it runs, the court treats the car as inoperable, and if it breaks the article, the court orders it abated. Once the city removes it, nobody may rebuild it, and the state is notified within 5 days.

Fines climb with each conviction under Section 13-75: $150 to $200 the first time, $300 to $450 the second, $451 to $500 the third or later. The city may also sue for a civil penalty for each day.

Yards, streets and abandoned cars

Residential lots in Denison allow parking in the front or side yard only on a paved or hard-surfaced driveway or an approved parking space (Section 28.50); the city manager can grant a written medical-hardship exception. The Code Compliance vehicles page puts it as concrete, asphalt, or pavers with a continuous path, and says all inoperable vehicles must be stored out of public view.

Section 13-40 counts as abandoned, among others, a dead car past its fifth year that stays over 48 hours on public property. Police may take one into custody and auction it if unclaimed. State law then gives the owner certified-mail notice within 10 days of the tow, and the 20th day after that notice is the last day to claim the car.

Code Compliance sits under Community Development, City Hall second floor, 300 W Main Street, 903-465-2720 ext. 2466. After hours, the police non-emergency line is 903-465-2720 ext. 5105.

Title office in Sherman

For Denison sales, the buyer files for a new title with Grayson County at 100 W Houston St., Sherman, (903) 892-8297. It sits roughly 9 miles south of downtown Denison, measured straight across.

As the seller you date the title, write in the mileage and sign it over, then sign Form 130-U where the price is shown. Leave the notary out; Texas does not ask for one. TxDMV should get your Vehicle Transfer Notification, by web or on Form VTR-346, inside 30 days. Ownership does not move with it, yet sent in time it protects you from whatever tolls and parking tickets the buyer runs up. Unbolt the plates before pickup.

Getting an offer from Denison

Online or at (877) 421-6008, tell us whether the car runs, what is missing, and whether it is behind a fence, in a garage or in the open. The truck meets the car there. Pickup is free in Sherman and across Texas too.