Selling a dead car in Dickinson

The Dickinson definition

Section 10-71 begins with a self-propelled car missing a live plate or a valid inspection sticker. Then one of two things must be true. Either it is crashed, gutted or tossed aside, or it has sat dead for over three days (72 hours) on public land, or over a month (30 days) on a private lot. Once it shows from a road or other public vantage, Section 10-77 calls it a nuisance.

Section 10-74 leaves out two cases. One is a car parked wholly indoors, where neither the street nor the neighbors can spot it. The other is an antique or special interest car that is kept orderly and screened. No exception names a car cover.

Police run the process

Dickinson's Code Enforcement page lists abandoned and junked vehicles, and loose vehicle parts, under "Special Conditions" and routes them through the Police Chief at 281-337-4700. The code officer's own line is 281-337-6274, at City Hall, 4403 Hwy 3.

Under Section 10-79, the chief mails a ten-day notice, certified, with a return receipt requested within five days. Three people get a copy: the most recent registered owner, every recorded lienholder, and the landowner or tenant where it sits.

Ask for a hearing within those 10 days and the municipal judge hears it before any removal. A finding of nuisance gives 10 days from the order to clear the car, and ignoring the order is a separate violation. Skip the hearing and the 10 days run from when you got the notice. This article sets no dollar amount itself. Dickinson's catch-all penalty runs to $500, or to $2,000 if the broken rule protects fire safety, zoning, public health or sanitation, and a fresh charge can come daily. Which cap covers a junk car, the code never says.

After the tow

Once the period passes, police take the car to a city storage area and keep it at least 10 days. During that time, anyone with a claim to it can take it back by paying "the actual cost to the city of abating such nuisance." The chief may also require a bond of $25 to $50, promising the car will not become another nuisance.

After 10 days in storage, the chief disposes of it at a scrap yard or by sale to a city-run site. The sale pays removal and storage first, and anything left goes to the owner or lienholder. A removed car can never be made to run again, and the city alerts the state within 5 days.

On the street, Section 10-10 sets no grace period at all. No one may "stop, park or leave unattended any abandoned or inoperable vehicle" on a street, road or highway right-of-way, shoulder included. The only excuse is a breakdown that left no choice, and an officer may tow the car to a garage or a wrecking yard the chief picks.

Title and plates via Galveston County

Dickinson's county title office is the Galveston County tax assessor-collector, 722 21st St, Galveston. It lies roughly 19 miles to the southeast as the crow flies, and the front desk number is (409) 766-2284. The buyer, not the seller, carries the title application in.

On your end, sign the title and fill in the sale date and odometer number. Sign the 130-U as well, with the price on it, and forget the notary, since Texas does not use one here. Report the sale to TxDMV before a month (30 days) has passed. Pull the plates if you plan to reuse them, or deface them; the sticker stays. No title at all? Texas allows a parts recycler to buy one without it for dismantling if it has reached age 13 and spent seven years unregistered.

Before the truck comes, note that Public Works takes up to 5 tires from Galveston County residents free on the first Monday of each month, 7:00 to 10:30 a.m., at 3120 Deats Road.

Getting an offer

Dial (877) 421-6008 or ask online. Tell us which car, how far it has gone, if it cranks, and where the paperwork stands. You sell the whole car as it sits. Nearby pages: League City, 4.1 miles away, and Texas City. The Texas page has the state rules.