Unregistered Vehicles on Property

[Jason Hanis]

I have a 3 family property that i bought earlier this year in Bridgeport, CT.  When i was getting the insurance in line, the broker had asked me if there were any unregistered vehicles on the property.  At the time I didn't think much about it.  I noticed in the existing leases (and most form leases) that there is an item about storage of unregistered vehicles.  That got me to think a bit more about it.  Now, upon last inspection, i have 3 unregistered vehicles that have magically appeared in our rear parking area.  

1) Why is it such a big deal that insurance would be asking about it and it would be in the leases?

2)  How have some of you more experienced landlords dealt with this?

We've approached the tenants about them and we are obviously not getting any warm responses.  Any insight and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Michael Noto]

@Jason Hanis We have direct experience with these issues in Connecticut as landlords and realtors. 

You have asked the tenants if any of the vehicles are theirs. Now send them all a letter and politely say that unregistered vehicles are lease violations and if they are not removed by "x" date then you are going to have them towed. Keep it professional. 

Going forward I highly recommend giving any vehicle listed on the lease a parking sticker and from there it is pretty simple. If there is a car there that doesn't have a sticker it gets towed. There are probably a number of companies that offer towing services in Bridgeport and they will even give you a sign with their number on it to put on your property so your tenants will know who to contact if vehicles that aren't supposed to be there show up. 

Parking situations and problems only magnify as the weather get worse and there is a mad scramble for parking when it snows, especially in the cities. I would nip this in the bud ASAP.