garaging new car w/out Arlington County parking sticker? (apartment complex, buying)

[airbalaC]

Hi everybody!

I am thinking about becoming a first-time car owner in the next couple of days. I need one for work, and Metro has become unreliable on getting me there efficiently and on time. Since my apartment complex only provides one parking spot per bedroom (and we've already got that one taken), I'm looking into buying a monthly pass in a garage nearby to put my car. I've already tried to see about negotiating for a second spot at my complex, and they've given me no guarantees.

I know that I'm going to need to go through the process of getting an Arlington County parking sticker for my vehicle once I purchase it. Am I going to be able to garage my car without difficulty if I register the car immediately, and garage it without having the sticker? Has anybody had any experience with this before?

[Carlingtonian]

Funny you should ask; yesterday there was an article on the ArlNow blog about this very topic.

The short answer is that the County is big on enforcing this by booting cars without stickers of removing their license plates--IF the owner owes $200 or more in taxes, fines, etc. If not, they reportedly will just leave a note warning you.

Since you just moved here, I would contact the County finance department and ask how you go about getting the sticker. I've had limited interaction with them, but they seemed pretty reasonable. You will have to pay the $33 for the sticker, even if your car (like mine) isn't worth enough for you to owe any car tax on.

Here's a helpful link: http://www.arlingtonva.us/department...evtfaqsqa.aspx

Good luck!

[airbalaC]

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

I completely missed that thread on ArlNow, and just went over to take a look at it. I e-mailed the County, and am waiting for a response... I'll post their reply here for future reference.

[airbalaC]

For future reference (in case anybody should stumble upon this at a later date), the Treasurer's Office e-mailed me back earlier this afternoon, saying that by registering online, a temporary decal should be made available... if one isn't, you can have a Temporary Decal e-mailed to you.