Selling a dead or junk car in Keller

The Keller test

The article covers a motor vehicle, trailer, aircraft or watercraft with an expired plate or no plate. It is junked once it is wrecked, stripped or discarded. A plain breakdown also counts, after 72 straight hours if on public property, or 30 straight days if on private land.

Section 8-610 covers a junked vehicle "visible from a public or private place or public right-of-way," so a neighbor's back window counts as well as the street. It is unlawful for any owner, occupant or person in control of the land to keep one. The offense is "a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars." Each day is a new offense, and no proof of intent is needed. After a conviction, the Municipal Court orders the car abated and removed.

A hearing before the City Manager

In Keller the hearing is not held in court.

1. The director decides a vehicle is junked and starts abatement under Section 8-615. Keller serves the written notice in person, by certified mail (five-day return) or by USPS signature confirmation. Copies go to the registered owner and every lienholder of record, plus whoever occupies or owns the property. A copy can be left on the car when no address is known.
2. Removal is due by the tenth day after delivery. To contest it, get a written hearing request to the city secretary within ten days.
3. With no timely request, the car "is deemed to be a junked vehicle and subject to removal by the city."
4. Ask, and you get a hearing on day 11 or later with the City Manager as hearing officer. A nuisance finding gives you ten days to remove it before the city does.

Moving the car within the city after notice changes nothing. Once removed, it "shall not be reconstructed or made operable again" (Section 8-625). Under Section 8-640 the city may take it to a scrap yard, a demolisher of motor vehicles, or a city-operated site. Within five days the state transportation department is notified.

For a homeowner, the exemption is a building that wraps the car fully and keeps it from public view.

Tarps, yards and streets

Keller's parking rules allow vehicles covered with a tarp, trailers and RVs only in side or rear yards, on an approved paved surface. That moves a covered project car off the front driveway.

On the street, Section 18-320 bans unoccupied trailers, camping vans and vehicles over 11,000 lb GVWR, pickups excepted. The fine can run to $500, plus towing. A breakdown is a defense for up to 48 hours for those vehicles. The section sets no time limit for an ordinary car. Report a car on a street to police non-emergency dispatch at 817-743-4522. Code Compliance handles inoperable vehicles on property at 817-743-4111, codecompliance@cityofkeller.com, or the "Report A Concern" button on the city page.

Selling from Tarrant County

Titles go through Tarrant County's tax office (100 E Weatherford St, Fort Worth). Call (817) 884-1100. The office lies about 14 miles southwest of Keller, measured as the crow flies.

If the title is gone, Texas has one narrow route. A used auto parts recycler can buy a car without a title if it meets three tests: the vehicle is 13 or more years old, it is bought only to dismantle, scrap or use for parts, and it has gone unregistered for at least seven years. The recycler then reports the purchase to TxDMV. A car so damaged that parts or scrap are its only value can carry a "nonrepairable" title, and after that its only allowed use is as parts or scrap metal.

With a title in hand, sign it with the date of sale and the mileage. Texas needs no notary. Keep your plates if you want them, and file the transfer notice within 30 days. See junk car with no title and salvage title.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, name the year, make and model, give the miles, say if it starts, and tell us whose name the title carries. Pickup is wherever the car is: a side yard, a garage, a shop lot. Neighbors with pages: Watauga, Southlake, North Richland Hills. State rules are on Texas.