Selling a junk car in Edinburg

Edinburg's test for a junked car

Section 90.01 calls a self-propelled vehicle junked in Edinburg when any one of these applies:

• it does not run and has no unexpired plate or valid inspection certificate
• it is wrecked, dismantled or discarded
• its engine has been dead for over 45 days running

Under section 90.02, Edinburg declares that car a public nuisance whenever a passerby on public ground could spot it. Section 90.03 then goes further and makes it unlawful "to leave or permit to remain upon public or private property ... within the city any junked vehicle or parts or portions thereof." Breaking 90.03 is an Edinburg misdemeanor, and the fine can climb to $1,000.

The lone exception, in section 90.12, is a car parked lawfully inside an Edinburg building with walls all round, so the street and the houses beside it see nothing.

Notice, hearing, removal

Edinburg's Chief of Police mails the Edinburg notice, certified or registered, addressed to the car's registered owner, its lien holders and whoever occupies the lot. It gives ten days to move the car, and ten days to ask for a hearing.

• No hearing asked for: get the car off the lot within ten days of receiving the letter. Otherwise Edinburg's City Attorney takes it to municipal court.
• Hearing asked for: the municipal judge hears it. Under section 90.05, when the judge rules it a nuisance, Edinburg's owner or occupant must remove the car "within ten days after the order is given."
• Still there after that: the Chief of Police may tow it to city storage. It stays at least 30 days, and a person with a claim to it can get it back by repaying what Edinburg actually spent on the abatement.
• After 30 days in storage: it goes to a scrap yard or to a demolisher "for the highest bid or offer received therefor." Nothing removed under chapter 90 may be rebuilt or made to run.

Edinburg's code officers say they aim to explain the rules and give owners time to fix a problem.

Yards and streets

On an Edinburg single-family lot, section 71.04 limits yard parking, front, side or rear, to an approved space, a marked or improved driveway, or a garage or carport. Leaving a car on the grass to wait for a buyer breaks it.

On Edinburg streets, any vehicle parked longer than 24 consecutive hours is unlawful, signs or no signs. Listed downtown streets are two-hour zones from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays. Parking at the curb to fix a car or show it for sale is also banned. A car towed for a parking violation comes back for $2.00 plus removal and storage costs; unredeemed after 30 days, it is sold.

Edinburg Code Enforcement is at 415 W University Dr, (956) 388-1838, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Police non-emergency: (956) 289-7700.

The county office is in town

Edinburg is home to Hidalgo County's tax assessor-collector, found at 2804 S. Business Hwy 281, phone (956) 318-2157, roughly 3 miles south of central Edinburg as the crow flies. Buyers apply for their new title there. Until one is issued, the Texas record keeps showing the seller, which is you.

An Edinburg seller closes that gap with the Vehicle Transfer Notification. TxDMV takes it on its website or on Form VTR-346, and the window is 30 days. It leaves ownership where it is, but on time it means your buyer's tickets and tolls do not come back to you. Write the date and mileage on the title as you sign; Texas wants no notary. Keep the plates if you like; the sticker cannot go with them.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, tell us the Edinburg car's model year and make, its mileage, whether the motor cranks, and the name printed on its title. Our truck meets it where it waits: a backyard, a carport or the lot where it quit. McAllen is 8.6 miles away and San Juan 8.9; the statewide rules are on Texas.