My Husband Is Deployed And His Car Registration Is Expired And My Apartment Manager Wants To Tow It?
can she do that? she gave me an attitude saying that she doesn’t have unauthorized cars in her parking lots. there is plenty of cars parked for over six months they even have the same situation and she keeps harassing me about my husbands car. I told her that i can take care of itt this friday but the DMV is closed friday and monday for the holiday and she told me if don’t have it done my monday she’s towing it away. what should i do?
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As far as I’m aware, as long as the car is parked on private land (i.e. not in the road), it is breaking no laws and therefore she can not have it towed.
Is the parking lot it’s in registered to you / your husband? Is it solely for your use or is it a shared lot… first come first served?
If it’s “your” lot, she has no right to even touch it… if it’s shared, it could be argued either way, but you would be in a better position as long as you’re not depriving someone else of the space.
Hope you get it sorted out soon.
I had to deal with a bitchy landlord like this as well. You have a few options. My ex landlord wanted to tow my car because i had a temporary license that was 1 day expired. Write her a letter stating your husbands circumstances and state the DMV is closed. Request for an extension to register your husbands car to whatever date you can or until your husband returns from deployment. Make sure you keep a copy for yourself. Make all dealings with her written on paper. If she ignores your request and tows the car, you can bring her to small claims and win!
You can also drive the car to a 24 hour parking lot, grocery store, walmart, or if you have a friend or neighbour who by chance has plates you can switch untill you can visit the dmv will help as well.
Is the car in your husband’s name alone? If so, most states have laws that extend such things while he is deployed. Call Veterans Affairs or your police department, or perhaps even the towing company she uses, and find out. Other cars with the same situation are beside the point, yours may be one of the only ones with expired registration.
Yea I have delt with states(and counties) that abuse the blight law.
Find a parking garage in your area and put the car there(airport parking is best) and move the car(i am going to say tow it to save my butt but honestly that’s not what i would do).
Then leave the car there till Tuesday and get the new registration then drive it back(tow it if you are not on the insurance for some reason).
if you know a friend with a truck you can possibly rent a tow dolly(like $40) and leave at there or another friends house until the whole thing is taken care of.
Oh and yes she can do it so get that car registered.
Goodluck
You have been given some bad advice. Move the car to private property if you can until you can get it registered, but don’t park it in a public lot like at the airport. Those lots are patrolled by police and they can cite you for expired tags.
BTW, the fact your husband is deployed has no bearing in this situation. It’s just a car with expired tags and your landlord can have it towed. Your lease probably states you will maintain insurance and keep all vehicle registrations current.
they have all right to if it is expired
Well there is more then just a car involved here. ‘Attitude’ will not tow your car away.
Registration is, essentially, a license to use a car on PUBLIC lands. It has no bearing whatsoever about parking on private property.
BUT.. does your rent come with a parking space?
Is the car a blight (dirty, dust, etc.. )
Are there any posted rules about parking?
Forget about ‘what others do’.. that generally is just a kids excuse (“But mom.. all the kids are doing it!!). Find out what your rights are.
If the car is dirty .. go wash it. Thats no big deal
If the car can not be there for 6 months in a row.. move it for a day or two.. thats no big deal either.
As far as the registration goes.. if you are not driving it on the streets don’t worry. Call up the DMV and find out about waivers for service personnel on active duty in the war .. THere prob. is one, but your husband needs to do it when he returns with his release papers.
In short.. do not be reactive to the land lady.. send her a letter asking her exactly what rules you are violating once you find out.. either contest them properly or address them. But, set the attitudes aside and work WITH her, not against her and you will get your problem solved.
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Depends on what’s in the lease — the law doesn’t care one way or the other — long as you’re not driving it, it’s not a violation.
sounds like you had a few words with the landlady, and gave her some attitude right back? I don’t blame ya, but now she ain’t gone listen to reason, she’s out to show you who’s boss?
If that’s the case, it won’t matter that it’s the wrong thing to do, she’ll do it. An aparment manager can hire a tow truck to move a vehicle off the property, and the tow truck driver will do it.
It won’t even matter whether it’s legal or not.
Take a look at your lease, it probably has something in there about “authorized vehicles”. If it doesn’t say anything about up to date registration, then you have every right to keep that car there, and if she tows it, you get yourself a lawyer and tear her a new one, in court!
Whatever you do, DO NOT do what the one poster said & swap your husbands plates for someone else’s. That is a criminal offense & will get you in hot water with the police instead of that pain in the butt landlord.
You said that DMV is closed Fri & Mon. That means they are open today & tomorrow. Contact your DMV office ASAP & see what the provisions are for car owners that are deployed in Iraq or A-stan. Get your lease out & read over it entirely to see what your actual rights are. If nothing else, call an attorney & ask them what you can do. Most consults are free & the attorney should be able to give you something to work with in the free time they allow. If nothing else, see what the attorney would charge to go after your landlord if she’s in the wrong & still is adamant about towing the car or does still have it towed.
Also, being a vet myself, I would do as the one poster stated and follow his suggestion & get in touch with the Veteran Affairs office closest to you. You should be able to find their phone number in the Blue Pages of your phone book. Some offices are even located inside the VFW in your city. If nothing else call the VFW or go there and see if their office is there or if someone there can get the number if nothing else.