Selling a dead car in Mission

The two-car screening clause

Section 42-210 says "a maximum of two junked vehicles lawfully parked on private property that are entirely covered by an opaque fence, trees and/or other landscaping, a fire-resistant canvas screen car-cover pre-fabricated for such use, or other appropriate means shall not be deemed violative of this regulation."

Read the words closely. The cover has to be made for cars and fire-resistant. The fence has to be opaque. And "entirely" means no part of the car can show from a public place.

When a car counts as junked

The same section covers a self-propelled vehicle that is "wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded." Mission adds a time test: a car dead over 72 hours on a Mission street or public lot, or over 30 days on private Mission property, qualifies. It applies to a motor vehicle that "displays an expired license plate or does not display a license plate."

Under section 42-212, a junked vehicle, or part of one, "visible at any time of the year from a public place or public right-of-way" is a public nuisance. Mission's procedures skip a car kept lawfully inside a closed building, hidden from view.

Notice and hearing

Mission gives a minimum of ten days' warning. The city may hand it over, certify it, or send it USPS with signature confirmation. Mission addresses it to the car's owner of record, its lienholders and the person living at the lot. The Mission letter sets day ten after delivery or mailing as the removal deadline, with hearing requests due before it. The city's top-ten list puts it simply: 10 days to comply from a certified letter.

Request a hearing and Mission must wait until at least day 11; the city assumes a non-running car unless you prove otherwise. A conviction carries a fine of at most $200 plus a removal order. Mission forbids rebuilding a car it removes; off it goes for scrap, sold to a demolisher or taken to a Mission or Hidalgo County disposal site.

Yards, streets and the impound lot

• Yards. Section 110-463 bars parking in a house's front yard, the side yard of an interior lot, or the side or rear yard of a corner lot, except on a parking space built to city standards. Mission's code office gives 10 days to comply, from a regular mail letter, for parking on the grass.
• Overnight. Between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., Mission allows no more than 30 minutes at the curb. The exception is narrow: a car outside the place its owner is staying the night, when that place has no driveway.
• Abandoned. Mission calls a car abandoned after 48 hours on public property if it is dead and over five years old, and after 48 hours on someone's private lot without consent.
• Impound. The police chief may collect a fee of no more than $10 before release, on top of towing and storage costs capped at the set maximum rate. Storage fees can run from the day of custody.

Report a violation in the MY Mission 311 app or at (956) 580-8697. Code Enforcement is at 117 E. Tom Landry. Non-emergency police calls go to Mission's 311 line, 956-585-3111, staffed day and night; the police main line is 956-584-5000.

Paperwork in Hidalgo County

For Mission, the Hidalgo County tax assessor-collector sits in Edinburg, number 2804 on S. Business Hwy 281, (956) 318-2157, about 11 miles northeast of central Mission as the crow flies. Your buyer brings the title application there.

What you do as the seller fits on a sticky note. Write the sale date and mileage when you assign the title; Texas does not ask for a notary. Mission sellers then have 30 days to notify TxDMV of the transfer, online or with Form VTR-346. Unbolt the plates if you want to keep them. And if the Mission car already has a nonrepairable title, Texas allows it to serve only as parts or scrap metal, which is fine for a whole-car sale.

Getting an offer

Online or at (877) 421-6008, tell us the year, make and model of the Mission car, its mileage, if it runs, and the title status. Our truck can reach it behind a fence, under a canvas cover, or wherever it last stopped. McAllen is 5.1 miles away; see Texas for statewide rules.