Selling a dead or junk car in Saginaw

The street, the alley and the right-of-way

Sec. 94-64 makes it unlawful to park or store any wheeled vehicle on "any public road, alley or public right-of-way within the city, for a greater length of time than 24 consecutive hours, when such vehicle is mechanically inoperable for any reason." Its neighbor, Sec. 94-65, allows 72 hours when the vehicle "is mechanically operable and duly licensed." The city's Common Violations page tells residents to report an inoperable car in the street to police at 817-232-0311.

What the front yard cannot hold

Saginaw's outside-storage article reaches the half-finished repair job. On land zoned residential, multifamily included, it bans open storage of motor vehicle parts like engines, transmissions and tires. It also bans a vehicle left unattended up on jack stands. Outside storage means items in public view in a front or side yard for more than 24 hours. The back yard is not counted.

Saginaw is picky about the ground under a car, too. Its Common Violations page wants any vehicle on a home lot parked on monolithic or contiguous concrete, which rules out gravel and grass.

One more line, from the fire code. Sec. 34-184: "It shall be unlawful, under any circumstances, to burn any junked or wrecked automobiles, or any part thereof." That covers public and private premises alike.

When a car becomes "junked"

Sec. 30-91 sets the bar. First, a self-propelled car whose plate or inspection certificate is expired or gone. Second, damage (wrecked, dismantled, discarded) or idleness: three days dead on Saginaw's public property, or a month, 30 days, dead on private land. Sec. 30-92 adds the visibility test. Visible to anybody standing in a public spot or right-of-way, in any season, even partly? Then it is a public nuisance. Every day it stays is a separate misdemeanor, with fines capped at $200.

Garage it, fully, so neither the street nor the neighbors see it, and Sec. 30-98 takes it out of the article.

Saginaw's court-first process

1. Notice. Saginaw mails its warning by certified mail. Copies reach the name on the registration, a lender with a lien if there is one, and the Saginaw lot's owner or tenant, with ten days or more of warning. The car must be gone "not later than the tenth day." Returned mail slows things: "official action to abate the public nuisance shall be continued to a date not less than 11 days after the date of return of the notice."
2. Hearing. Requests go in writing to the municipal court. Saginaw itself requests one when the tenth day passes with the car still in place. Before the municipal judge, "the junked motor vehicle is presumed to be inoperable, unless demonstrated otherwise by the owner."
3. Order. Only a written order from that judge lets the city abate the car. Sec. 30-93 says abatement comes only after a hearing.
4. Removal. A car the city takes "may be removed to a scrapyard, a motor vehicle demolisher, or a suitable site operated by a municipality or county," and "shall not be reconstructed or made operable again." The state transportation department is notified by the fifth day after removal.

A criminal conviction runs on its own track. The court sets a deadline of no more than 20 days to clear the nuisance. Miss it, and Saginaw clears the car itself, then sends the bill to whoever was convicted.

Code Enforcement's number is 817-230-0443. Code Compliance is at 301 S. Saginaw Blvd., open Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It is closed Fridays. Its officers list non-operational vehicles among the complaints they investigate.

Fort Worth is the title office

All of Saginaw is Tarrant County, so title work points to the Tarrant tax office in downtown Fort Worth at 100 E Weatherford St, phone (817) 884-1100. In a straight line that is about 8 miles south of Saginaw. Texas buyers apply for title there, at the county, rather than at any state office.

For a seller, three habits matter more than the trip:

• Report the sale. Within 30 days, send TxDMV its transfer notice, through the website or by mailing Form VTR-346. That timely filing is what keeps a stranger's tolls and parking fines from following you.
• Keep your own record. Note the buyer's name and phone, the sale date, and the VIN on paper. TxDMV recommends it.
• Watch the dealer gap. Trade a car to a licensed dealer and the dealer may skip titling it, leaving your name on the record until a later buyer comes along. The transfer notice covers you there as well.

Unscrew the plates before the tow and peel off the sticker if you like. Texas lets you keep the plates, transfer them onto a same-class replacement, or scratch them up before they hit the trash. After you sell has the rest.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in the online form: model year, make, model, miles, whether it drives at all, and whose title it is. A truck can load it from the curb before that 24-hour mark, from a Saginaw driveway, or from a shop lot. Nearby pages: Fort Worth, Haltom City, Watauga and Keller. Statewide rules: Texas.