Selling a dead or junk car in Missouri City

Fines that climb with each conviction

Section 30-161 calls a junked car, or any piece of one, a public nuisance if, in any season, people passing on a public right-of-way could see it. Maintaining one is an offense under Section 30-163, and on conviction the court orders it abated and removed.

Missouri City caps the fine at $200 but sets a rising floor for repeat convictions within 24 months:

• $100 minimum the first time
• $125 minimum the second time
• $150 minimum the third time or later

Only a building protects an ordinary household here. Section 30-162 exempts a car lawfully kept entirely indoors, out of sight of both the street and the lots next door. Dealer inventory, junkyard stock and screened collector antiques are exempt as well.

Notice, hearing, and the move that does not work

Section 30-172 requires at least ten days' warning before removal. Missouri City delivers its notice in person, by certified mail or by mail needing a signature. Missouri City mails the notice to the registered owner, all lienholders, and the owner or occupant of that lot. Removal is due by the date it lists.

A hearing happens only if one of those recipients asks before the deadline runs out. Section 30-173 sets it no sooner than day 11 after notice. The burden sits with the owner, since the code treats the car as inoperable until shown otherwise.

Do not plan on dodging it with a tow across town. Section 30-171 says relocation "has no effect on the proceeding" as long as the car still counts as a nuisance after the move. Once removed, the car may be sent off to a demolisher or scrap yard, or to a suitable city site. It can never be rebuilt, and Section 30-174 has the city report it to the state within five days.

Grass, curbs and impound

Missouri City says parking spaces must be hard-surfaced and bans parking a vehicle anywhere not meant for it. A dead car cannot simply sit on the lawn.

The city lists a vehicle left in the street more than 48 hours among the violations its police enforce. Its abandoned-vehicle definition covers a car left on a city street right-of-way that long, too. After police take an abandoned car, they mail a certified letter within ten days. Owner or lienholder can recover it through the 20th day after that letter by covering towing, preservation and storage, or it can be auctioned. Section 30-133 lets storage fees run for up to ten days before the notice is even mailed. Our towed or impounded guide picks up from there.

Fort Bend or Harris paperwork

Title work in Texas belongs to a county tax assessor-collector, and Missouri City touches two counties. Fort Bend County's tax office sits about 13 miles west of Missouri City as the crow flies, at 1317 Eugene Heimann Circle in Richmond; call (281) 341-3710. Harris County's office on Preston in downtown Houston, (713) 274-8000, is about 17 miles northeast as the crow flies.

No notary is involved in a Texas sale. On the back of the title, add the date sold and the mileage, then sign. Include Form 130-U, also signed, with the price. The buyer then has 30 days to retitle the car. Your protection is filing a Vehicle Transfer Notification with TxDMV during those same 30 days. Keep the plates if you want them, since the county office moves them to your next car at no charge. If your Missouri City car is 13-plus years old and has gone unregistered seven years, a parts recycler may take it titleless, for parts or scrap. Long-parked cars are covered in car sitting for years.

Getting an offer

Have a Missouri City car? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. We tow from homes, garages and lots near Sugar Land. State rules are on the Texas page.