Sell your dead or junk car in Sherman, Texas

Start with an offer online, or call (877) 421-6008. Then find your Texas title. You will not need a notary.

A dead car on any premises is a code problem

Sherman's code works on two levels. The first is broad. A car that cannot lawfully be driven on a public road, or one with no license, is not allowed on any premises at all. Nor may any vehicle sit in "major disassembly" or "in the process of being stripped or dismantled."

The second is the junked-vehicle part of the article. It reaches only a motor vehicle whose plate has expired or is missing. Such a car is junked if it is wrecked, fully or partly taken apart, or discarded, or if it has sat dead for more than 72 hours on public ground or 30 days on private ground. Once seen from Sherman's public places or rights-of-way, it becomes a public nuisance.

Hiding it has narrow rules. The exemption covers a car "completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property." For the dealer and collector cars the article exempts, screening means a fence or a building, and the code adds: "A car cover is not considered appropriate means of screening."

One more line sits in the zoning code. Section 14.08.001 says a lot where three or more inoperable vehicles are stored is deemed a junkyard.

Ten days, a hearing, then the scrap yard

For a car on private property, Section 8.08.007 requires "not less than ten (10) days' notice." It is mailed certified, five-day return requested. Recipients are any lienholder of record, the car's last known registered owner, and the premises' owner or tenant. Both the removal and any hearing request have to happen within that 10-day window. A letter the post office sends back delays action by 10 days or more.

The municipal court holds the hearing "not earlier than the eleventh (11th) day after service of notice." There the burden is on the owner: unless shown to run, the car is treated as inoperable. Moving it does not help: relocating a junked vehicle within the city limits after the case starts "has no effect on the proceeding" if the car is still a nuisance in its new Sherman location.

Section 8.08.010 sends it for scrap or salvage, to a scrap yard or demolisher, or to a site the city runs, and it may never be rebuilt. The city reports the removal to the state within 5 days, and the state cancels the car's title.

Environmental Code Compliance, 100 S Rusk, handles junk, debris and open storage, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office line is 903-892-7077. To report a junk or abandoned vehicle, the city FAQ says to call the action line, 903-892-7300.

Driveway and yard rules

Section 12.04.008 covers parking on homes. On residential lots under one acre that have a standard asphalt or concrete driveway, a motor vehicle, operable or not, may be parked between the front and rear property lines only on that driveway. Cars between the front setback line and the front property line must be legally operable and carry current registration.

A violation is a Class C misdemeanor. Each vehicle and each day counts separately, and the city may seek a civil injunction.

Streets and towing

Sherman's street rule targets habit. A vehicle left on a public street, an alley or another public place for four hours or more between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., "continuously and habitually," meaning more than three nights in any seven days, is unlawful.

If police already towed it, the city FAQ points to the dispatcher line, 903-892-7290, which names the tow facility. Getting the car back takes that facility's fee and proof of ownership. The police department is at 2600 W Travis St, 903-892-7280.

The title: Grayson County, no notary

Grayson County's tax office is at 100 W Houston St., (903) 892-8297, about 1 mile northeast of central Sherman as the crow flies. In Texas the county tax assessor-collector handles titles, not a state DMV counter, and the buyer is the one who files.

What TxDMV asks of the seller:

• Assign the title to the buyer, dated, with the current odometer reading.
• Sign the buyer's Form 130-U application and show the sales price on it.
• Skip the notary. Per TxDMV, neither the assignment nor the bill of sale nor the odometer disclosure needs one.
• Report the sale through a Vehicle Transfer Notification, web or paper Form VTR-346, by day 30.

The state keeps you on its record until a new title is issued, and a seller who does not file can be held responsible for tickets and tolls.

The plates stay with you. Unscrew them and peel the sticker; the plates can be put on another vehicle of the same classification, at no charge at the county office, or be defaced. The old sticker does not travel with them.

Branded titles and missing titles

A car whose repair cost exceeds its value before the damage is a salvage motor vehicle in Texas. If damage leaves a car worth only its parts or scrap, it gets a nonrepairable title, and from then on its only lawful use is as parts or scrap metal. Either can be sold whole. See salvage title.

Lost the title? Each owner named on the title signs Form VTR-34 for a certified copy, $5.45 at a county office, and a new copy cannot follow the last one for 30 days. Sherman sellers also have the recycler option: a used parts recycler may buy an untitled car that is 13-plus years old, unregistered for seven years or longer, and bought only for parts or scrap.

Towns near Sherman

Pickup is free in each of these. Distances are straight-line miles from Sherman.

For statewide rules, see Texas.