Selling a dead or junk car in Portland, Texas

Rather than fence it in, you can sell it. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, whether the car sits in a Portland driveway or a shop across the bay. You sell the whole car as it sits.

Three ways a car qualifies

Section 11-110 lists its tests for a junked vehicle joined by "or":

• it lacks a plate that is still unexpired or an inspection certificate that is still valid
• it is wrecked, "dismantled or partially dismantled, or discarded"
• it "has remained inoperable for more than thirty (30) consecutive days if the vehicle is on private property, or seventy-two (72) consecutive hours if the vehicle is on public property"

Once such a car is "visible from a public place or public right-of-way," Portland treats it as a public nuisance. The city's page says the owner must either remove it or screen it from passersby with a fence, trees or shrubbery. A Portland car kept entirely inside a building, unseen from the street or neighboring lots, is outside the article.

No removal without a hearing

Portland writes the hearing in as a hard rule: "No junk vehicle or part of vehicle may be removed as a public nuisance without a public hearing." The order of events:

1. Certified mail, five-day return requested, giving at least ten days. Portland mails it to whoever last registered the car, any lienholder on file, and the Portland lot's owner or renter. With no known owner, the notice can be put on the car.
2. Ten days from mailing. Portland owners get that long to remove the car; any hearing request must also be in before the window closes.
3. Returned mail pushes things back. If notice is returned undelivered, "action to abate the nuisance shall be continued to a date not earlier than the eleventh day after the date of the return."
4. A hearing in municipal court, held "not earlier than the eleventh day after the date of the service of notice." The car "is presumed inoperative unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner to be operable."

Section 11-116 lets Portland send a removed car off for scrap or salvage, and Section 11-113 forbids putting it back on the road. Report a concern through the city's Junked Vehicles page; city hall is at 1900 Billy G. Webb Drive, 361.777.4500.

Street parking and the pound

The street clock is 48 continuous hours. Under Section 11-89, a car left unattended on a Portland street, alley, sidewalk, park or other public place past that point becomes a nuisance that Portland police can move to the pound. The police FAQ makes the same point: trailers aside, no motor vehicle may sit on a Portland street beyond 48 hours at a stretch. Police business line: (361) 777-4444.

If a car sits in the pound 30 days unredeemed, the chief of police notifies the owner and any lienholder by registered mail. Section 11-95 gives two ways back. Before a sale, pay the chief the impound fees and the city's actual expenses. After an auction, pay the buyer "double the amount paid by him" plus reasonable keeping costs, within 30 days of the sale.

Paperwork for a Portland seller

Portland straddles San Patricio and Nueces counties. The Nueces County tax office, 901 Leopard St, Ste 301, Corpus Christi, (361) 888-0230, lies about 8 miles southwest of central Portland as the crow flies. San Patricio County's, at 1301 E. Sinton, Suite C, Sinton, (361) 364-9370, is about 14 miles northwest.

Either counter takes the buyer's title application. Your part: sign the Portland title, add the sale date and mileage, then the 130-U goes to the buyer too, signed by you and stating the agreed price. Portland sellers need no notary. Afterward, let TxDMV know about the sale within 30 days, via the TxDMV.gov/VTN page or a paper VTR-346. If the car is still titled to a parent or a past owner, see car not in your name.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or start online with the basics: what year and make it is, the model, the odometer number, and how the title reads. If it has been parked for ages, our car sitting for years guide helps. Corpus Christi is 13.4 miles off; see Texas for state rules.