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There's a car parked on a gravel area that's partly on my property, though possibly also partly on city right-of-way. I don't know the precise limits. (It's in the Marshall-Shadeland / Brighton Heights border area--a street with no sidewalk, no curb, no demarcated shoulder, and a lot of empty lots.)
I've owned the property for a few years, but am only getting it (and the side yards) surveyed now. The surveyors are due on Tuesday. The mystery car needs to be gone so the surveyors can do their thing.
I left a note yesterday, along the lines of "if this isn't abandoned, please move it, thanks"). The car's only been there a couple of days, but doesn't belong to the neighbors across the street (the closest neighbors), and nobody has ever parked there before, except me, occasionally, or people doing work on the house.
Problem is, the spot is sort of a gray area. It's not a "driveway." There's no curb, so no curb cut. The city puts down gravel at a similar spot a few properties up the hill, and people park there, sometimes. I guess it's remotely possible that someone was just very confused. But mine has planting beds with flowers, a house number, stairs, railing, and a house. Should pretty obvious it's not city property! But I still don't want to make pain for a neighbor (even a distant neighbor) by towing a guest's car.
So, anyone know...what are my rights to tow a car that's at least partly on my property? Will the city tow, if it's also partly on their property? Can I ask the police to check if the car has been listed as stolen, but if not, tell them to hold off for 24 hours more, to see if the owner comes and moves it? How long would you wait, to be polite, in case it's someone who is just confused? How far would you knock on doors?
I'm going to check with a few more distant neighbors (100-200 feet away) today, check if the tags are current, and call the license plate in (if there's a way to do that) to check if it's stolen. But, then what?
It was a van that was "stored" on their vacant lot. Tags were expired. Neighbors knew nothing about it. City refused to do anything because it was on private property.
One night some people moved it by physically pivoting it into the street. They called 911 and said that it was blocking a public street in the city. It was tagged and towed within a few hours.
Start with calling the police. It might be a stolen car that was abandoned there. When my car was stolen, it was found in Garfield. The police didn't find it. They don't look for stolen cars. It was found because someone called and said a strange car had been parked next to their house for a few days. The license plate was run, and we received a call telling us where to find our car.
First and foremost, you have to be able to prove that the property is legally yours through deed and survey. You are approaching this problem in a very responsible manner, thus far, and I would continue to do so. Trying to move the car by either having it towed, or by any other "self-help" measure, could create many unforeseen problems for you. My best suggestion would be to leave a note on the vehicle stating that it parked on private property, requesting its immediate removal (but only if you truly own the property and can prove it if asked). I would then post "private property"/ "no trespassing" signs on the property itself. If the car is not moved within a few days, I might try posting "private parking- car will be towed" signage next. I would suspect that the vehicle will be gone within a few days. Patience is the key.
Call the police, let them know you are working on the property and need it moved. They will most likely call the owner or have the owners local police visit them.
That is what happened when one of my work trucks broke down on someones land and the tow truck took forever.
Is the registration current? We had a car parked in front of our house for about three months. I called the city because I was worried it was stolen, and they wouldn't even take the license plate number since the registration was current. Eventually the person came and towed it away in the middle of the night one evening. Your situation is a little different as ours was completely on public property, but don't be surprised if the city is unhelpful.
I called the city because I was worried it was stolen, and they wouldn't even take the license plate number since the registration was current.
It depends on the neighborhood. A call about a car in Homewood, Garfield, or other neighborhoods were stolen cars are often abandoned by thieves will be treated differently than a call about a car in other areas of the city.
I guess this would be a Penn Hills specific question, but maybe someone would know. If someone's put a car up on blocks in front of one's house on the street, tires missing etc, with out of state plates, that doesn't belong to any of the immediate neighbours, is that something that code enforcement is likely to do anything about?
I don't care at all when people park in front of our house, happens all the time, but this car is something else, no idea where it came from. Hopefully no one thinks it belongs to us.
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