Selling a junk or dead car in Greenville

The city's junked-car test

Greenville's ordinance text could not be read online for this page, so what follows comes from the city's own Code Enforcement pages and from state law. The city may have further rules of its own.

The city FAQ says Greenville City Code treats an inoperable car with no current plate or valid inspection certificate as junked if any of these apply:

• smashed, taken apart or abandoned
• off the road over a month (30 straight days) while on a private lot
• stalled over three days (72 straight hours) on a public street

There is a surface rule as well. Cars must park on approved surfaces, such as a driveway or pavement, never on grass or dirt.

How a Greenville case moves

Code Enforcement works out of 2315 Johnson Street, open weekdays 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Call (903) 457-3100 or write to inspections@greenvilletx.gov. The city is split at Wesley Street into an East district and a West district, and each has its own officer.

When an officer confirms a violation, you get a fixed number of days to correct it. Most nuisances, such as tall grass, get 7 days. Trash, improper storage and similar problems get 10. The page does not list a separate period for junked vehicles. If you can't meet the deadline, call your assigned officer before it passes; extensions are decided case by case. Miss it with no word and a citation can follow. The police non-emergency line is 903.457.2900.

What Texas law adds

State law sets the outline every Texas city works within. Under Chapter 683 of the Transportation Code, a junked car that people can see from a road or other public spot, at any time of year, is a public nuisance; maintaining one breaks state law. A city that removes one has to give at least 10 days' notice and offer a hearing first. Not covered: a car entirely inside a building, inventory on a dealer's or junkyard's lot, and a collector's antique kept neat and screened.

Abandoned cars towed by police get a certified letter within 10 days. Owner and lender have 20 days from that letter to come for it. After that their rights are gone, and an auction buyer gets the car free of liens.

Hunt County title work

The Hunt County tax assessor-collector is at 2500 Stonewall St, Suite 101, 2 miles or so north of downtown as the crow flies. Phone (903) 408-4000. The new owner applies for their title at that office.

Your part: sign the title over with the sale date and odometer number, and sign the buyer's 130-U form with the price. No notary is needed in Texas. Last step: tell TxDMV the car changed hands. Greenville sellers can do that online or mail Form VTR-346, as long as it happens inside 30 days. If the title is missing, a certified copy costs $5.45 in person on Form VTR-34. State law also has a narrow no-title route for parts recyclers holding a state license who buy a car purely to dismantle or scrap. It applies only to a car aged 13 years or more whose registration has been dead for seven years. More on that in selling with no title.

Plates may come off with you, but the sticker does not transfer to another car. TxDMV's emissions-county list does not include Hunt.

Requesting an offer

Fill in the form or phone (877) 421-6008 and describe the car: model year, make, approximate mileage, running or not, and whether you have its title. The truck can come to a Greenville driveway, a side street off Lee Street, or a garage on the road to Royse City. The Texas page has more on statewide rules.