San Angelo: selling a dead or junk car

The city borrows the state's definition

Section 8.03.011 does not write its own day count. It covers junk vehicles "as defined in the Abandoned Motor Vehicles Act, V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, section 683.071," and declares them a nuisance wherever they are "visible from a public right-of-way." The city's reasons are spelled out: such cars reduce property values, "invite vandalism," and "create fire hazards."

San Angelo's web page on frequent code problems spells the test out. A self-propelled car on private land that is wrecked, dismantled, discarded or has not run in over 30 days may be declared a public nuisance where it is visible from the right-of-way. Its advice: a garage, or a privacy fence that screens it from public view, and plates and registration kept current.

The code's exceptions cover a car kept fully and lawfully inside a building, out of view, a licensed dealer's or junkyard's stock, and a collector's antique or special-interest vehicle that is screened and kept orderly.

Ten days, then court

For a car on private property the code requires "not less than ten days' notice." The city mails it certified, asking for a return within five days, to the registered owner, the lienholders, and the owner or occupant of the premises. Removal is due "within ten days," and the notice adds that "a request for a hearing must be made before expiration of the ten-day period." A car on public property gets the same ten days.

From there, the path splits:

• You ask for a hearing. It is public, held before the municipal court judge, no earlier than the 11th day after the notice. No removal is ordered until it happens.
• You do neither. If the car is not removed and no hearing is requested within the 10 days, the city files a complaint in municipal court.

A car ordered removed is hauled by the city's contract wrecking company. It cannot be rebuilt or made operable, and the state transportation department must be told within five days. Shifting it somewhere else inside city limits once the proceeding is underway "shall have no legal effect" when the car is still a nuisance where it ends up.

The junk-vehicle section sets no fine of its own. Section 1.01.009, the general penalty, allows up to $500 for most violations and up to $2,000 when the broken rule covers zoning, fire safety, or health and sanitation.

Street parking and the city pound

Any vehicle left alone for over 48 continuous hours in a public place, whether a street, alley, sidewalk or park, is declared a nuisance, and police may send it to the pound. Abandoned cars on the street go to the police Traffic section at 325-657-4307.

Getting a car back has its own rules:

• Redeem before sale. Section 8.03.003 has the owner pay the chief of police the impounding fee plus the city's actual costs of impounding and keeping it.
• The lien. Section 8.03.002 gives the city a lien for impounding, storage and advertising costs that is "prior and superior to all other liens of every kind," except liens for property taxes.
• Thirty days. Under Section 8.03.006, a car not redeemed within 30 days goes to a state records check, and the owner and lienholders get registered mail. Fifteen days after the mail receipt, the chief prepares a notice of sale. If no owner can be found, a car not redeemed in 45 days needs only posting and advertising.

Code Compliance is at 52 W. College Ave. in the Community Development Building, 325-657-4409. After 5 p.m., the city asks residents to use the police non-emergency line, 325-657-4315.

Title and plates through Tom Green County

The Tom Green County tax office is at 113 W Beauregard Ave, (325) 659-6529, about 2 miles northeast of central San Angelo when measured as the crow flies. Tom Green is not on TxDMV's list of 17 emissions counties.

What the seller owes the buyer, with no notary involved:

1. The title itself, signed, dated with the sale day, and showing the mileage.
2. A signed Form 130-U showing the sales price.

After that, the seller has 30 days to send TxDMV a transfer notice, online or with paper VTR-346. Ownership does not change hands through it; instead, a notice filed in time means the buyer's toll and parking violations cannot be blamed on you. Separately, the buyer must get the title into their own name within 30 days.

You may take off the plates and the sticker. The county office will put your plates on a replacement car of the same classification for free, with a new sticker. Replacing a missing title takes Form VTR-34 and $5.45 at the counter.

If the car was totaled, Texas calls it a salvage vehicle when repair costs beat its actual cash value right before the damage. See salvage title.

Nearby

Abilene and Big Spring are both about 82 miles away in a straight line. Midland is 105.7. The Texas page covers statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use the offer link above or call (877) 421-6008. Fill us in on what the car is, its mileage, if it runs at all, and who has the title. Pickup is at the car, which might mean a carport, a fenced backyard, or a repair shop near downtown.