Q: A friend wanted to store a car at my place instead of paying for storage and has refused to pay and is now in rehab
Said friend wanted to store a car at my place instead of paying for a storage shed, and agreed to pay me for doing it, now he's gone to rehab, hasn't paid me for weeks and the person he arranged to pay me while he was gone is ignoring any efforts I make to contact her and sort it out. Department of Housing is already on my case about it being on my lawn. What are my legal options? The car isn't registered and keys cannot be located. I am considering selling the car to a scrap dealer
A:
In Texas, you can apply for a Certificate of Authority to dispose of the vehicle. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/default/files/form_files/VTR-71-4.pdf
The DMV will give notice to the owner whose name appears on the vehicle registration, along with any lienholder. After 20 days pass, the Certificate of Authority will be issued allowing you to dispose of the vehicle.
But be very careful. If you have an agreement to allow the owner to store the vehicle on your property, the terms of that agreement will govern whether you are legally liable to the owner for improper disposition of the vehicle.
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