How do I legally get my parking spots back?

February 9, 2010 6:40 PM

What is the correct way to have visitors' vehicles towed from off-street parking spots at an apartment complex?

I googled towing specific to my area and couldn’t find anything. My boyfriend and I live in a small, northeast Indiana town. As such, online laws and regulations are few and far in between, on both the county and city levels. Neither the county nor the city websites have sections pertaining to traffic or parking. However, I found a MeFi topic that seemed to be what I was looking for here. Much of the advice seemed to be very specific to DC, and some of the advice seemed to be conflicting.

The answers to the previous MeFi question mentioned that having a sign makes it easier for police to enforce visitors to use the street, but one answer said that a “no parking” or “you will be towed” sign is almost necessary for a legal tow. Another answer said that off-street parking does not need police involvement but rather just a phone call to the landlord’s preferred towing company. I can only hope it's that easy.

In my situation, we live in a townhouse apartment complex; each apartment complex has six units, and each unit is designated two parking spaces – right in front of the unit. My boyfriend and I both drive cars, and we use both spaces. We both work and go to school, so visitors have ample time to beat us to our parking spaces before we come home for the night. Upon move in, we were told that the spaces were for us, and any visitors were to use the street. There are no painted lines or numbered spaces in the parking lot. Since we’ve moved in, we’ve had many problems with visitors parking in any available space. We’ve had our spaces taken 15+ times in less than six months (often times overnight), and these visitors are usually high school/just out of high school age. The landlord/owner told us that he will not interfere with parking, and it is up to us to deal with it. Yet, we are not allowed to post signs in our windows or outside of the unit, as he made my next door neighbor take down a sign from his window.

What is the legal, "foolproof" way to get these visitors out of parking spots that don't belong to them? I’m tired of staking out the vehicles and yelling at the owners. (And putting a foot and a half of snow by their driver's side doors while shoveling the sidewalk. Not that such a thing happened tonight or finally made me ask this question.)

You are not a/my lawyer.

Thanks!

posted by ylimah to Law & Government (24 answers total)

It sounds like your landlord lied to you about the unit coming with two parking spaces. In practice doesn't come with any designated or dedicated parking spaces. I think your dispute is with your landlord, not the people parking in "your" spaces.

If you don't want to fight with the landlord... Would he be alright with you keeping cones in the spaces during the day?
posted by mr_roboto at 6:46 PM on February 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Have you checked your lease agreement paperwork for any mention of parking rights/responsibilities? When I lived in apartments, there was always some pretty specific requirements - which meant I had some rights, too.
posted by carlh at 6:46 PM on February 9, 2010

This doesn't answer your question. Would the landlord allow you to put a traffic cone there?

http://www.google.com/search?q=traffic+cone&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
posted by snowjoe at 6:47 PM on February 9, 2010

I'd check your lease. If the lease says you have two spaces, I'd point out to the landlord that his desire to "not interfere" with parking is putting him in violation of the lease because you can't actually get people towed - it's absurd to tow people for a space that isn't labeled as a private one. If the lease doesn't mention it, I'd wonder whether those spaces really are legally attached to the building. It's one thing to say "no signs" in general, but a "don't park here or we'll tow you" sign is absolutely necessary if these are truly private spaces.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:49 PM on February 9, 2010 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Parking is covered in the lease. "Parking shall be provided for private autos only... We require that residents be considerate of other residents by asking any guests to park on the street or away from the building. Any inoperative or illegally parked vehicle may be towed away at the discretion of management..."

Yeah, it does sound like another talk with the landlord is in order. The landlord's attitude is that he's had the buildings (all three complexes) for 25+ years, and parking has never been a problem. I just don't think he's going to do anything, and that isat his "discretion." Otherwise, he's a pretty decent landlord.

So, if I have to call the cops before I get too vindictive (and I get more and more vindictive every time), will that portion of the lease be enough to get them to ticket the offending vehicle and get it out of there?
posted by ylimah at 7:02 PM on February 9, 2010

will that portion of the lease be enough to get them to ticket the offending vehicle and get it out of there?

Is there anything at all to indicate to someone looking for a space that it's a private spot? Imagine you were towed - you'd not only have no idea you weren't supposed to park there, you wouldn't even know who to call to get your car back, and would probably report it stolen! Speaking only for myself, if I actually found out I'd been towed from an entirely unmarked 'private' spot, I'd probably sue the responsible party for the cost of my car retrieval.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:07 PM on February 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

the police will do nothing.

Your lease, if that's all it says about parking, doesn't say you have two designated spaces...only that you can't park commercial vehicles and that you must be "considerate", and that you can't park an inoperative vehicle.

You have no recourse...

if this is a deal breaker, start looking for another place to move.
posted by HuronBob at 7:09 PM on February 9, 2010

So, if I have to call the cops before I get too vindictive (and I get more and more vindictive every time), will that portion of the lease be enough to get them to ticket the offending vehicle and get it out of there?

How would you establish to the police that the car in question does not belong to a resident of the complex who holds a lease with the same wording as your own?

Also, the language in your lease as you quoted it here does not guarantee you two parking spaces. It doesn't even guarantee you one parking space, though it is kind of implied that there's some sort of parking provided.
posted by mr_roboto at 7:13 PM on February 9, 2010

Response by poster: Tomorrowful - The apartments look like really narrow, attached houses; the front door and living room window are right in front of the parking spots. Two regular sized cars can fit in front of each unit. There is nothing posted, but I, personally, would assume the parking in front of someone's front door is parking in their spot. Also, everyone who signed the lease agreed to tell their visitors to not park in front of the building.

Thanks to everyone for the responses so far. I will ask about the cones; that's something I had never thought about before now.
posted by ylimah at 7:15 PM on February 9, 2010

There is nothing posted, but I, personally, would assume the parking in front of someone's front door is parking in their spot.

Speaking as someone who lives in a city composed almost entirely of narrow attached houses: I wouldn't assume anything about the parking outside someone's front door; street parking is 100% free-for-all, legally and ethically. If I was visiting your town, I'd merrily park right outside your front door if it was a convenient, available space.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:23 PM on February 9, 2010

Response by poster: Speaking as someone who lives in a city composed almost entirely of narrow attached houses: I wouldn't assume anything about the parking outside someone's front door; street parking is 100% free-for-all, legally and ethically.

The parking in front of the units is not street parking. It's off-street parking, as I said before the "read more" link. If people were parking on the street, that'd be pretty damned awesome. But thanks for your input!

mr_roboto - I agree that the lease has nothing about the number of spots provided (get everything in writing, I know), however the lease clearly specifies that parking "shall be provided for" - and that private automobiles are the only vehicles allowed to use the parking provided in front of the units. Private automobiles would be only those owned by those legally leasing one of the units, yes? Or did the landlord completely flub this part of the lease?
posted by ylimah at 7:43 PM on February 9, 2010

Well, the question for the landlord is "What parking are you providing for me on the occasion that both of my parking spaces are taken by other people?" The lease says parking will be provided for, which means it's something the daily portion of your rent pays for, and it's up to him to "provide" the parking. If he can't provide parking, then he can provide towing rights.

It sounds like he's just let it go on lackadaisically for so long that you're going to have to put the screws to him. I mean, if the guy isn't even going to up up "Reserved Parking" signs, that's pretty darn lazy.
posted by rhizome at 8:10 PM on February 9, 2010 [2 favorites]

Private automobiles would be only those owned by those legally leasing one of the units, yes? Or did the landlord completely flub this part of the lease?

Flub is in the eye of the beholder, I would say. Clearly your landlord is happy with the situation as it is.

Quit yelling at people because they aren't following the unposted rules - if there's nothing in your lease promising assigned parking and no signage indicating that the parking isn't catch-as-catch-can then they're doing nothing wrong.

Jamaro has the right idea here; only your landlord, as property owner, has the right to implement these changes. Get multiple people on board to push him about it and you'll have a better shot at getting him to do something.
posted by phearlez at 8:11 PM on February 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Private automobiles would be only those owned by those legally leasing one of the units, yes? Or did the landlord completely flub this part of the lease?

I read "private automobiles" as being anything other than commercial vehicles (trucks, vans, etc) or mobile homes, trailers, etc.
posted by blaneyphoto at 8:12 PM on February 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Private automobiles would be only those owned by those legally leasing one of the units, yes? Or did the landlord completely flub this part of the lease?

Nthing that "private automobiles" is as opposed to commercial vehicles. The phrase restricts your rights in terms of what kinds of vehicle you can park there, it doesn't provide any rights.

The language in your lease is very weak -- just asking that people "be considerate" or that towing may be done at "owner's discretion." It doesn't even specify that you're to be given the spots that happen to be in front of your unit!

The people parking in the spots aren't privy to your lease, which is the only place it says they should park on the street, out of consideration. They're guests of leaseholders, which in many off-street apartment parking lots gives them the right to park there -- otherwise, it would be a pain to have visitors.

So stop yelling at them. Stop shoveling snow into their car doors (seriously?). Until the day your landlord puts up a sign that says "private parking for leaseholders only -- unauthorized vehicles will be towed," they're not doing anything wrong. The cops won't tow them, either, and they're quite right not to.

In other words, you don't, in fact, have the right to those spaces. Your lease doesn't say you do, and your landlord won't put up a sign that would allow you to keep others from parking there.
posted by palliser at 9:02 PM on February 9, 2010 [4 favorites]

The lease says parking will be provided for, which means it's something the daily portion of your rent pays for, and it's up to him to "provide" the parking.

It doesn't say where, though. If she has to park on the other side of the lot, that's not his problem; he's still complied with the lease on its face.
posted by palliser at 9:07 PM on February 9, 2010

My parking spot at the place I lived in Iowa City did have my unit number clearly marked....and I had absolutely no qualms about having cars which didn't belong there towed.

Will the landlord not allow the unit numbers to be painted on the ground?
posted by brujita at 10:57 PM on February 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You need to call your landlord every single time this happens. Every. Single. Time. Make it his problem. Is there paid off-street parking nearby? Send him a bill for their overnight rate the next time this happens. (I wouldn't expect him to pay it, the point is you're sending him a message.) Don't tell him you're going to do it, just do it. When he refuses to pay, use that as a bargaining point.

Put the No Parking sign in your window. Make the landlord tell you to take it down. You need to make him take action one way or another.

Have a list of suggestions for how to remedy the situation. Cones, painted numbers in the spaces, real "resident parking only" signs, etc.

Talk to your neighbor (the one with the no parking sign) and get an ally. Get him to do all the same stuff. See if you can enlist a few more units. If it's a problem for two of you, it's probably a problem for more. When the landlord starts getting angry calls on a daily basis from several different units, he'll take some action.

Do you know who these visitors are visiting? Could you make your case to that resident and ask him to have his visitors not park in front of your unit?
posted by dalesd at 6:04 AM on February 10, 2010

Second to dalesd's point - if these are legitimate visitors, then they are visiting someone. Presumeably, that person has told their guest "yeah, it's technically resident parking only but it's not like anybody does anything about it, so just park wherever you see a space."
Find out who, and have a talk.
posted by aimedwander at 7:19 AM on February 10, 2010

I’m tired of staking out the vehicles and yelling at the owners.

You did this, and they still park there? I tell ya, I hate getting yelled at (doesn't everyone?!), and this would definitely stop me from parking there, even if there's no signage saying I shouldn't.

If you hadn't had any communication with these people yet, I would recommend leaving a polite note (there is nothing passive-aggressive about leaving an "actually polite" note) telling them that these are your parking spaces. If you've already gotten off on the wrong foot with them, this probably won't help. In that case, you should leave them some home-made brownies, and the aforementioned note.
posted by where u at dawg at 8:07 AM on February 10, 2010

It looks like your landlord promised to provide communal parking. If there are any free spots in the complex, that counts and you should park there. You have no ownership over a specific spot, and no right to kick anyone out.

Yes that sucks, and is wrong, but it's your landlords fault, NOT the people who park near your house.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:30 AM on February 10, 2010

Make a stencil "Reserved for unit n. All others will be towed." Get yellow paint, and add the necessary lines and stencil, NEATLY. Ask forgiveness rather than permission.

And/or write a polite, charming/funny if possible, letter to all units, along the lines of Dear Neighbors, we're really frustrated about unauthorized use of our parking. We would really hate to (legally) tow someone's car, but it's coming to that. Please encourage your visitors to use street parking.

And/or have a neighbor's meeting at your condo, and get people together to get signage adopted.

And/or write up a letter saying Dear _platenumber_, you're parking in a spot reserved for tenants, and your vehicle may be towed if you do it again. We really don't want to tow cars, so please park on the street. (I used to do this to cars that blocked my drive, and I used to call the police to get them ticketed, because it's stupid and crappy to park like a jerk).
posted by theora55 at 11:58 AM on February 10, 2010

And/or write a polite, charming/funny if possible, letter to all units, along the lines of Dear Neighbors, we're really frustrated about unauthorized use of our parking. We would really hate to (legally) tow someone's car, but it's coming to that. Please encourage your visitors to use street parking.

But the thing is there is no reserved parking, per the lease, and it would be illegal to tow the cars that are parked there. The lease only refers to parking in the vaugest of terms (parking for private autos only). It doesn't seem to indicate any specific or even non-specific parking for anyone except for no parking for commercial vehicles.

You really need to address this with the landlord. Is there other off-street parking available aside from the spots directly in front of the units?
posted by 6550 at 12:28 PM on February 10, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers!
posted by ylimah at 1:45 PM on February 10, 2010