A dead car in Flower Mound: the town rules and how to sell it

The town's junked-vehicle test

Section 34-241 holds the town's definition. The car runs under its own power but shows no unexpired license plate, or else no valid inspection certificate. Then it must also be wrecked, dismantled, partly dismantled or discarded. The alternative is a car that "has remained inoperable for more than 72 consecutive hours, if the vehicle is on public property, or 30 consecutive days, if the vehicle is on private property."

If, in any season, passers-by in public places or on rights-of-way could see it, and the code's harm conditions are met, it becomes a public nuisance. Keeping it is a misdemeanor with fines up to $200 for every day, and a conviction ends in a court order to remove it.

A ticket can come first

The town may cite a junked car without sending any notice. Removal is the slower road. Under Section 34-244, notice is mailed to the registered owner and each lienholder, and to the lot's owner or occupant. The car "must be abated and removed not later than the tenth day after the date on which the notice was mailed." Any hearing before the municipal judge comes "not earlier than the 11th day," and the car is treated as inoperable at that hearing until the owner shows the judge it works.

The court order also bars rebuilding and requires "that notice identifying the vehicle or part of the vehicle be given to the department of public safety not later than the fifth day after the date of removal." That notice is what cancels the title.

What counts as hidden

For an everyday owner, the exemption means a building that fully encloses the car and keeps it out of sight. Dealer, junkyard and collector cars need a fence, trees or shrubbery around them, and the town says tarps and car blankets are not screening, nor is any similar covering.

In residential districts, no car or truck may sit on a surface that misses the town's paving standards unless it is completely screened. The code defines that as "completely out of view from private or public property, or public right-of-way from average grade of the surrounding property," and a fence you can see through does not pass.

Abandoned cars and the impound

Section 34-284 makes it an offense to leave an abandoned vehicle on any "public street, alley, other public place or upon private property without the consent of the owner." An inoperable car older than five years that sits unattended on public property beyond 48 hours qualifies. Police may move it to a town garage or storage yard. Within ten days the town sends certified letters to the owner and lienholders, and they may claim it up to the 20th day following that letter, paying for towing, preservation and storage.

Report violations on the town's Online Service Request Form, or call Customer Relations at 972.539.SERV (7378) in business hours. After hours, Police Dispatch takes non-emergency calls at 972.539.0525.

Denton or Tarrant County

Flower Mound spans two counties; title applications go to either county's tax assessor-collector. Denton County's office at 1505 E. McKinney, phone (940) 349-3500, is about 12 miles due north as the crow flies. Tarrant County's office, also measured as the crow flies, is around 23 miles southwest; it is on Weatherford Street in Fort Worth (100 E), phone (817) 884-1100.

The seller's paperwork

The transfer notice, filed online or on Form VTR-346, does not move ownership by itself. It flags the sale on the state record, and once it is in within 30 days of the sale, the buyer's parking tickets and tolls are no longer pinned on you. The new owner still applies for a title at the county. Title lost? Flower Mound owners can request a certified copy on Form VTR-34. Every recorded owner must sign it, and you wait 30 days before asking for another. See selling with no title.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or go online with the make, model, year and miles, plus whether it runs and the title's condition. Pickup happens at the car, in a garage, on a paved pad or at a shop. Nearby pages: Southlake, Grapevine, Corinth, Lewisville, and state rules on Texas.