Selling a junk or dead car in Weatherford

Weatherford's junk-car test, step by step

Section 6-3A-2 begins with the license plate. Unless the plate is expired or missing, the chapter does not reach the car at all. If the plate is bad in Weatherford, the car qualifies when it is wrecked, stripped or discarded, or has sat dead for a month, meaning 30 straight days on private property. On public property, three days (72 hours) does it.

Section 6-3A-1 turns that car into a public nuisance when any part of it is in public view, in any season. Section 6-3A-3 treats keeping one as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of no more than $200, and a conviction comes with an order to clear the car. The chapter's text carries no separate garage exemption; the test it states is whether the public can see the car.

Weatherford's zoning code bans parking on grass, in landscaping or on any unpaved surface, and Code Enforcement enforces it. A dead car on the lawn can break both rules at once.

Ten days, then a judge

When the car is on private land, Weatherford puts the notice in writing. Weatherford's notice comes by hand, by mail that needs a signature, or certified, five-day return requested. Three people get it: the registered owner of record, each lienholder, and whoever controls the property. With no address on file, the notice can go on the windshield.

You get until the tenth day after the postmark, or after a hand delivery, to get rid of it. If you disagree, send the city secretary a written hearing request within that window. The municipal judge hears it on the 11th day after the request arrives or later, and starts by assuming the car is inoperable until the owner shows it runs.

Staff may walk onto the property to inspect the car and arrange its removal. Under section 6-3A-7, a hauled car ends up at a scrapyard or demolisher, or at a disposal site the city runs. The state motor vehicle department hears within five days, the title is cancelled, and the car can never be rebuilt.

Street cars belong to the police

Code Enforcement works out of 119 Palo Pinto Street (817-598-4284 ext. 4), open Monday to Friday from 8 to 5, and only on private property. A car abandoned on a public street or highway goes to the police at 817-598-4300.

Weatherford's chapter 6-3B calls a car abandoned after 48 hours parked illegally on public property, or on a private lot the owner never okayed. Police mail a certified letter no later than ten days after the tow. Starting from that letter, the owner or a lienholder has 20 days to clear the towing, preservation and storage charges and reclaim it. After that, the law treats them as giving up all rights, and the car can go to public auction. See towed or impounded.

Downtown has its own limit. Section 10-4-24 allows two hours in any one quadrant of the central square area, and moving to a different space in the same quadrant is "not a defense."

The Parker County office is a mile away

The title office is close to home here. Parker County's tax assessor-collector sits at 1112 Santa Fe Dr, about 1 mile southwest as the crow flies, phone (817) 598-6139.

The buyer, not you, takes the title application there. Your job is to sign the title over and write in the date and mileage, then sign the buyer's Form 130-U showing the price. A notary is not part of it in Texas. The Vehicle Transfer Notification goes to TxDMV inside 30 days; once it is filed, the buyer's tolls stop reaching you. Your plates can come off with you, and the county will move them to a replacement car in the same class at no charge. The old sticker does not carry over; the county issues a new one. Title lost or in a relative's name? See car not in your name.

Getting your offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008. Year, make, model, mileage, whether it turns over, and who holds the title are all we need. The tow truck will load it from a Weatherford driveway, a pasture lot at the edge of town, or a shop on the road to Fort Worth. The Texas page covers rules across the state.