Selling a junk or dead car in Lewisville

The state test Lewisville relies on

Chapter 683 of the Transportation Code puts a car in the junked bin when it is wrecked, dismantled or discarded. Being dead long enough also counts: 72 hours running on public ground, or a full 30 days running on a private lot. Once it is visible, winter or summer, to anyone on a street or right-of-way, the statute makes it a public nuisance. Parking it inside a closed building takes it out of the rule.

Lewisville must give the owner a hearing and 10 or more days' notice before towing this kind of car.

How a Lewisville case usually begins

The city says its officers open with a letter or door-hanger that sets a timeline, then cite only if nothing changes. The written rules are looser than that habit. Lewisville runs on the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, with local changes, and under it a citation may come with no warning letter at all. To fight an order, file a written appeal with the City Manager inside 20 days; the City Council hears it.

Lewisville has no fine written just for junked cars. Its catch-all penalty tops out at $2,000 where a breach touches fire safety, zoning or public health, $500 for anything else, and every day is a fresh offense. The city even tracks inoperative-vehicle cases as a separate metric, and admits the ones needing a wrecker take longer to close.

On a single-family or two-family lot, a car in storage needs an all-weather pad with a border, and nobody may live or work in it.

Code Enforcement sits at 151 Church Street. Call 972.219.3480, Monday to Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or Friday mornings until 11:30.

Curb rules that catch a dead car

• 48 hours. Section 15-129 is the cap for a car or trailer left on any Lewisville street, road, highway or public property.
• Mailboxes. Section 15-128 bans parking "within ten feet of any mailbox" from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on mail delivery days.
• Mill Street. Overnight parking there, 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., is out wherever signs or markings show it (Section 15-127).

If a dead car has already been hauled off the street, Lewisville police take non-emergency calls at 972.219.3640. Our towed or impounded guide weighs paying the lot against letting the car go.

Denton County or Dallas County

Lewisville straddles both counties. Texas runs titles through county tax assessor-collectors, with no state DMV window involved. The Denton County office, 1505 E. McKinney in Denton, (940) 349-3500, is closer: as the crow flies, roughly 14 miles to the northwest. For Dallas County, the address is 500 Elm Street, Suite 1200, around 21 miles southeast as the crow flies; the line is (214) 653-7811.

Your side of the paperwork

Texas wants no notary stamp anywhere in this sale, odometer statement included. Date the title, add the odometer number, sign and Form 130-U goes to the buyer too, price written in and signed by you. Next, within 30 days, report the sale through the Vehicle Transfer Notification (TxDMV.gov/VTN online, VTR-346 on paper). Once it is filed, the buyer's tolls and parking tickets stop coming to you. The plates and sticker can come off with you. Missing title? Order a certified copy first, as selling with no title explains.

Getting an offer

Phone (877) 421-6008, or fill in the form, and describe the Lewisville car: model, odometer reading, does it start, is the title in your name. From an apartment lot to a repair bay, pickup is at the car. Nearby pages: The Colony, Carrollton and Flower Mound; statewide rules sit on Texas.