Selling a dead or junk car in Stephenville

The 30-day and 72-hour clocks

Stephenville says it follows state law here. Its Code Enforcement page lists vehicles, boats, trailers, tractors and the like. One counts as junk once it is wrecked, partly or fully dismantled, or discarded, and has stayed dead past 30 consecutive days on a private lot or past 72 consecutive hours on public ground.

Two limits keep a car outside the rule. It must be in view of a public place or the public right-of-way before the rule bites. And the page says the rule leaves alone a vehicle completely enclosed in a garage or screened from public view by a privacy fence.

When the city does find one, the page sums up what follows: written notice to remove the vehicle, store it or make it operational within 30 days, or face legal action plus towing and possible demolition. That is the city's own summary; the ordinance text is not on the page. Code Compliance answers at 254.918.1215.

Streets, parks and police tows

• 72 hours on a street or alley. Sec. 72.04 says a person "shall not stop, stand, or park a vehicle on any street or alley in the city for a period of time longer than 72 hours," or past the limit on posted signs.
• Heavy and long vehicles. Sec. 72.06(A) keeps trucks and trailers rated over one ton, and anything longer than 25 feet, off public streets except while loading or unloading. A mechanical defect is an affirmative defense for the time emergency repairs take.
• 24 hours at a park. Sec. 97.13 bars leaving "an inoperable motor vehicle" on city parkland "for a period of more than 24 continuous hours."
• Junked cars can be towed. Sec. 72.13 lets an officer send a car to a towing yard or the police impound lot "when any vehicle is found to be a junked vehicle."

The police department, at 356 N. Belknap Street, keeps a 24-hour non-emergency line: (254) 918-1273.

Title work at the Erath County tax office

Texas has no state DMV counter for titles; each county's tax assessor-collector does that job. Erath County's office sits at 222 E College, roughly 1 mile east of central Stephenville, measured as the crow flies. Its number is (254) 965-8830.

A notary is unnecessary here; Texas wants no stamp on a title, bill of sale or mileage statement. What the buyer gets from you is the signed title, dated, with the odometer figure written in, and a signed Form 130-U listing what they paid. No later than 30 days after handing over the keys, send TxDMV your Vehicle Transfer Notification (the website version or the VTR-346 paper form), so tolls and tickets run up later land on the new owner. The plates and sticker can come off. The plates can ride on your next same-class vehicle, sit in a garage drawer, or be defaced and tossed. After you sell has the rest, and selling with no title covers a lost one.

Nearby towns

Stephenville anchors its own micro area, so the closest towns with pages are some distance off: Weatherford at 45.8 miles, Cleburne at 48.2, Benbrook at 54.5 and Crowley at 56.1, each a straight line. Statewide rules are on the Texas page.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. Expect four questions: what the car is, its approximate mileage, whether it still cranks over, and whose name sits on the title. Pickup happens wherever it rests: a driveway in town, a gravel lane outside town, or a shop lot where it was left after a breakdown.