Laws about parking campers/boats in non residential living (apartments, condos, etc)

[SouthPaw]

I currently live in an condo complex and there is a number of trailers parked on the back side of the lot (pop ups, boats, canoes, etc). At least two of the trailers belong to people who live in the houses down the street from us about an 1/8 mile away. Well it not necessarily hurting anything, the guy that has the boat is constantly working on it and tearing it apart and quite frankly, it looks trashy. It also makes parking tighter because of the trailer taking up the back parking spots. There is a car next to the boat that has been sitting there with flat tires since I moved in a year ago. Yesterday, I saw a "WARNING TOW VEHICLE" sticker on it due to expired plates which tells me someone else is watching this as well.

What are the laws regarding this? I am not sure what to even google and I figured some of you guys are property owners that may have dealt with this in the past. I have a message in with my property management company but he is on vacation. Previously in other places I have rented, it was stated in the lease no types of trailers like this but all the units were owned by the same person/company. At this complex, some units are personally owned, some rented and some managed by various property management companies like mine. Am I just being a whiny b**** or has anyone had to deal with this before? I am leaving a note on the owners front door today asking him to please move his trailer and hopefully it takes care of itself after that.

[Great-Kazoo]

What does your lease say? if the vehicles on property are not a tenants, they're trespassing.

[Dave_L]

Sounds like it's going to be a huge mess with the different ownership types in there. Is there an HOA for all units, no matter the ownership type?

I'd be upset if someone that didn't live in the complex had their trailer/boat parked there though.

[SouthPaw]

What does your lease say? if the vehicles on property are not a tenants, they're trespassing.

I am going to look at that tonight when I get home but what MY lease says may not apply to anyone else that lives there. I also do not remember reading anything regarding this. There is parking for our complex and there is complete empty lots surrounding our complex that has no occupancy or units there. They are just empty parking.


Sounds like it's going to be a huge mess with the different ownership types in there. Is there an HOA for all units, no matter the ownership type?

I'd be upset if someone that didn't live in the complex had their trailer/boat parked there though.

The HOA's may be the same so this might be something to look into. I've seen people use our dumpsters as well. Just drive up, unload their trash and drive out of the complex. I have never seen their vehicles any where in the complex so I am pretty sure they are from the surrounding areas. The joys of renting!

[Tinelement]

Property owner is probably using the space for trailer storage rental and the dude storing the car hasn't paid his storage rent.

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

It is a private property issue. Police won't take any enforcement action because it is not a public roadway/lot. The entity you need to get in touch with is the HOA for your condo complex, which is not the same thing as the property manager for your specific unit. Every condominium complex has an HOA of some sort, because of the communal ownership of certain physical areas, shared utilities, shared insurance, etc. Typically the HOA will have control over the parking area to the complex, especially if it is unassigned parking and individual condo owners don't "own" specific spots. The HOA for the property has the authority to have vehicles towed from the parking lot. Your property management company will have no authority and really no knowledge of the parking situation. Hopefully the HOA is active and responsive, as they are notorious for being slow, indifferent, and bureaucratic, if not just completely unreachable, especially since you are only a renter and not an owner. Depending on how effective/mismanaged the HOA is, it is possible that the parking issue has never been brought to their attention. Or maybe it has and they just don't care and won't do anything about it. Towing isn't free, and the board may be hesitant to spend funds that weren't specifically budgeted. Anyway, if you don't have any idea how to contact the HOA (which is understandable if you are a renter) try checking for postings around the mailbox area. That's usually where info is posted for residents. Give them a call and see if anything comes of it.

[Irving]

It is a private property issue. Police won't take any enforcement action because it is not a public roadway/lot. The entity you need to get in touch with is the HOA for your condo complex, which is not the same thing as the property manager for your specific unit. Every condominium complex has an HOA of some sort, because of the communal ownership of certain physical areas, shared utilities, shared insurance, etc. Typically the HOA will have control over the parking area to the complex, especially if it is unassigned parking and individual condo owners don't "own" specific spots. The HOA for the property has the authority to have vehicles towed from the parking lot. Your property management company will have no authority and really no knowledge of the parking situation. Hopefully the HOA is active and responsive, as they are notorious for being slow, indifferent, and bureaucratic, if not just completely unreachable, especially since you are only a renter and not an owner. Depending on how effective/mismanaged the HOA is, it is possible that the parking issue has never been brought to their attention. Or maybe it has and they just don't care and won't do anything about it. Towing isn't free, and the board may be hesitant to spend funds that weren't specifically budgeted. Anyway, if you don't have any idea how to contact the HOA (which is understandable if you are a renter) try checking for postings around the mailbox area. That's usually where info is posted for residents. Give them a call and see if anything comes of it.

^^ This

[Wulf202]

Eh
It's already been covered pretty throughly except the property management company might be a sub contractor for the Hoa so they may actually have power to enforce parking. It's not specified.