Southlake junk cars: the city's rules and a whole-car sale

When a dead car becomes "junked" in Southlake

The city's test starts with a self-propelled car that does not run. It is junked if any one of these is also true:

• its plate or inspection certificate is not current
• it is wrecked or dismantled
• it has sat dead for over 45 consecutive days

Section 18-256 makes it an offense in Southlake to keep a nuisance car where it shows from a right-of-way or public property. Section 18-262 holds the code's only exemption. Southlake exempts a car stored indoors where the street and nearby lots cannot see it. Southlake's code is silent on car covers. The city's Code Enforcement page also points to Zoning Section 39, which limits outdoor storage of personal property in view of public streets.

The ten-day letter, and the complaint with no letter

Southlake has two routes. On the removal route, Section 18-259 calls for at least ten days' written notice. Southlake sends certified letters to three people: the registered owner, any lienholder, and the owner or resident of the property. Each one sets day ten as the cutoff. If you want a public hearing before the municipal judge, ask in writing before those ten days end (Sections 18-259 and 18-260).

If a court convicts, Section 18-264 has it order removal within a set time of up to 20 days. If that date passes, Southlake tows it itself and sends you the bill. After the city removes a junked car, Section 18-261 bars anyone from rebuilding it or getting it running.

The criminal route skips the letter. Section 1-7, the general penalty, caps fines at $2,000 for fire, zoning, health or sanitation offenses and at $500 for the rest. Every day is its own count.

Code Enforcement works from 1400 Main Street, Suite 310, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at (817) 748-8331. Complaints come in through Southlake Serves.

Street parking and abandoned cars

• 24 hours in one spot. Section 18-178 limits a car to 24 continuous hours in the same place on a public street, or 72 hours in front of the owner's own property.
• 48 hours after a tag. Once police stick a notice on an abandoned car, Section 18-282 gives the owner 48 hours before they may impound it, on private land as well as public.
• Right away. Section 18-227 lets the city pull a junked or abandoned car off public property immediately as a traffic obstruction.

Section 18-283 allows 20 days after the notice to claim an impounded abandoned car. Bring the title and pay the towing, preservation, storage and garagekeeper charges. The police non-emergency line is (817) 743-4522.

Two counties, two tax offices

Southlake sits in both Denton and Tarrant counties. Each county's tax assessor-collector handles Texas title work, rather than a state office. We checked two offices, and either county may have other locations:

• Tarrant County: 100 E Weatherford St., Fort Worth, (817) 884-1100. In a straight line it is about 17 miles southwest.
• Denton County: 1505 E. McKinney, Denton, (940) 349-3500. In a straight line it is about 18 miles north.

Signing over a Southlake car

Filing for the new title is the buyer's job under Texas rules, so you don't have to stand in line at either office. You owe the buyer two signed papers, and neither needs a notary:

• the Southlake title, signed, showing the sale date and mileage
• Form 130-U, with the price on it

After that, you have 30 days to file the Vehicle Transfer Notification, on the web or on paper Form VTR-346. Filing it keeps the buyer's tolls and tickets off you.

Your plates and sticker can come off before the truck leaves. You may move the plates to a new car of the same classification, keep them at home, or deface them and toss them. The sticker is left on the old car. Denton and Tarrant are both among TxDMV's 17 emissions counties, so expect a buyer to want your most recent Vehicle Inspection Report. More on the last steps is in after you sell, and the statewide rules are on the Texas page.

Getting an offer

Got a Southlake car to sell? For a Southlake car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. We tow from garages, curbs and shops in Grapevine or Keller.