5000 unclaimed towed cars?

[Beiruty]

If your car is towed, you should go look for it and pay a fine and release it. But 5000 cars for years not claimed?
Now the cars are for auction, and Hispanic Activists are angry.

As noted below, it seems whoever were driving the cars paid cash in private sale and never registered the vehicle. As noted in the comments, previous owners got notified but they already sold theirs and notified DPS.

Where are the real owners, why they do not come forward?

DALLAS — Dallas County is gearing up to auction thousands of cars that were towed years ago under the supervision of two constables.

But a Hispanic community group wants to stop that auctioneer's hammer from dropping. They took a stand in front of the Dallas County Administration building on Elm Street Friday.

Reading from a list filled with the names of vehicle owners, the group — Accion America — said each one is a victim of a controversial towing operation by Constable Derick Evans and former Constable Jaime Cortes.

"We are not going to stand by and let Dallas County dispose of 5,000 vehicles illegally, unconstitutionally, violating the rights of so many people," said Accion America's Carlos Quintanilla. "It's a shame."

The cars were towed to Dowdy Ferry Auto Service. The group claims some of the owners were not properly notified, and while their cars sat in the lot, storage fees piled up.

More:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/5000-veh ... 81879.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[fulano]

Wow! Didn't realize they really kept these things so long. I thought that only happened on tv shows. In the series "Bones", the FBI found Bone's parent's car in such a lot after many, many years. I love that show.

Perhaps a lot of those cars are un-claimed for a reason.

[sss]

If you're curious about what kind of abandoned vehicles are typically sold at auction:
http://www.lonestarauctioneers.com/auct ... onlist.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note that this is City of Dallas and not Dallas County. Still neat to see what's going to be auctioned off, though.

[lonewolf]

There is a lot of controversy involved in this, as there was paperwork required to be submitted to the state within a specific time period, and then notification to the registered owners, and then auction within a certain amount of time. Hardly any of this was ever done, if at all, and the cars just sat around, piling up. If it was a cash sale, and never re-registered or re-titled, the original owner has right possession by law, especially if there is no bill of sale, receipt or anything like that.

I know a guy that sold a car and then a number of months later received a ticket in the mail for a stop light camera violation 200 miles away. He had filled out the seller transfer form and sent it in to the state, but apparently it hadn't been processed, and the buyer hadn't had the title transferred yet. It was not nice to deal with for a little while.

I wonder how many unregistered (out of date) cars are out there, with no insurance, forged inspections, etc......I would imagine a LOT...

[Pawpaw]

If you sell a vehicle, remove the plates. In Texas, you must remove them if you have any of the "special" license plates. If you have regular non-commercial plates, it is optional.

Removing the plates will pretty much force the new owner to go register it. They might not like it, but it's their problem.

[RoyGBiv]

I know a guy that sold a car and then a number of months later received a ticket in the mail for a stop light camera violation 200 miles away. He had filled out the seller transfer form and sent it in to the state, but apparently it hadn't been processed, and the buyer hadn't had the title transferred yet. It was not nice to deal with for a little while.

I got a notice from the tollway authority for unpaid toll camera fees on a car I sold a year before. Thankfully I had kept a copy of the form I sent to notify the state that the vehicle was sold (and the certified mail receipt). Then I asked the tollway guy to explain to me why I was receiving the FINE, but never received the original INVOICE....

Eventually they figured out that the invoice had gone to the new owner, who never paid it.. So they sent the fine notice to me... Morons..

Took about 4 weeks to work out the details and have them "discover" where their error was. I had to contact the state DMV and then get them to contact the tollway folks... I was the monkey in the middle, trying to get two beaurocracies to talk with each other to resolve a problem that only I cared about..

Oh.. and to add insult to injury... The car was traded in to a dealer, not a private sale.

[The Annoyed Man]

I know a guy that sold a car and then a number of months later received a ticket in the mail for a stop light camera violation 200 miles away. He had filled out the seller transfer form and sent it in to the state, but apparently it hadn't been processed, and the buyer hadn't had the title transferred yet. It was not nice to deal with for a little while.

I got a notice from the tollway authority for unpaid toll camera fees on a car I sold a year before. Thankfully I had kept a copy of the form I sent to notify the state that the vehicle was sold (and the certified mail receipt). Then I asked the tollway guy to explain to me why I was receiving the FINE, but never received the original INVOICE....

Eventually they figured out that the invoice had gone to the new owner, who never paid it.. So they sent the fine notice to me... Morons..

Took about 4 weeks to work out the details and have them "discover" where their error was. I had to contact the state DMV and then get them to contact the tollway folks... I was the monkey in the middle, trying to get two beaurocracies to talk with each other to resolve a problem that only I cared about..

Oh.. and to add insult to injury... The car was traded in to a dealer, not a private sale.

Been there, done that, except ours was a private party sale. Considering the person who bought the car, I wasn't surprised when it happened, but I was not happy to have to speak to her almost a year later and tell her to take care of her obligations and quit being a drain on society. I told her I had sold her a good car at a very reasonable price, and that it was unreasonable and unfair of her to screw me by not taking care of her business. I also informed her that I had already taken it up with the NTTA and the DMV, and that both now had her address.

[74novaman]

I'm not surprised. I used to work at a body shop that also ran a towing business on the side, and we had at a minimum 4-6 cars there that were never claimed. Most of them were clapped out, broken down pieces of junk though, so paying the impound fees may have been more money than the entire car was worth!!

[cbr600]

deleted

[boba]

I wonder how many unregistered (out of date) cars are out there, with no insurance, forged inspections, etc......I would imagine a LOT...

It's very popular with criminals.

[wheelgun1958]

I wonder how many unregistered (out of date) cars are out there, with no insurance, forged inspections, etc......I would imagine a LOT...

It's very popular with criminals.

Si

[Commander]

If you sell your car you should fill out this form:

https://vision21.txdmv.gov/Vehicle/Main ... ation.aspx

[boba]

If you buy a car, and drive it on public streets, you should register it.

And have insurance.

And have a DL.

And not whine when your crimes catch up with you.

[OldCurlyWolf]

The thought that crosses my mind, is I wonder how many were driven/owned by Illegal Aliens?

I would bet that quite a few were owned/driven by people who spend a lot of their lives in jail or the pen.

And a bunch where the new owner never bothered to complete transfer of title. I.E., didn't want to pay the fees and taxes.

[jimlongley]

When we lived in Plano we hired a kid to do some work for us, he wanted us to pay him in advance, but I agreed only to pay him cash on a day by day basis. The second day he didn't show, and he never showed after that, except to call and complain that he had needed us to pay him in advance because the: "Stupid Plano Police towed his car" and if we had paid him in advance his car would not have been towed, so it was our fault that he didn't show up and we still owed him because he would have been there, etc, etc, etc . . .

I suggested that he file a claim against us in small claims court and we would let the judge judge whether he was due the money. Never heard another word.

Right around that time I went through Plano's Citizens' Police Academy and maintained contact with a couple of the officers. I contacted one of them about the towed car and he gave me the Plano web site to look up warrants. Our "yard boy" was on there. My friend also told me that the car in question had been bought and sold by several teenagers over a period of time, never being updated, registered, or insured, and if it hadn't been parked illegally it would not have drawn their notice and would not have been towed. He did not expect it ever to be claimed from impound.