Tenant Has An Unregistered Car.
Question
A current tenant has an unregistered car parked on the rental property. The tenant has been told numerous times to remove vehicle and failed to act. How can I get car removed?
Answer
What you can do and what you should do depends on a number of issues. First, what your lease says regarding the matter. Second what do statutes of the state where the property is located and local ordinances, or, if governed by a HOA, what do HOA documents say about the issue? Third, does “told” mean you served a written notice regarding it being a lease default and the notice period required by law has already passed or did you only give oral notice which possibly doesn’t even count?
Having an unregistered vehicle parked on private property in appropriate locations – e.g., in a designated parking area or in the driveway – would not usually in itself be a violation of a statute, ordinance, or even a HOA rule. Government only cares when an unregistered vehicle is on public streets and roads. If it’s up on blocks with wheels off for a long time, it might be a different matter, particularly regarding a local ordinance or HOA rule, although if only for a short time while repairs are underway, it might not.
Absent a statute, ordinance, or HOA rule, there would likely be nothing you could do if the issue is not adequately covered in the lease agreement. If it is so covered and you have given the written notice required by law regarding termination for a lease violation, then upon expiration of the required notice period (different for a “cure or quit” vs an “unconditional quit” notice) you could consider proceeding with eviction and this would likely get the tenant’s attention. If the tenant is on a month-to-month lease, you could simply terminate his lease with the required advance notice whether or not it is covered by the lease, statutes, ordinances, or HOA rules; assuming there is no statute or ordinance which somehow prevents termination for certain reasons or except for certain reasons.
Depending on what the lease says you may be able to instead have the vehicle removed in accordance with the procedure required for having a vehicle towed in the jurisdiction where the property is located. The exact procedure varies significantly among states and among local jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions require that a sign must have been posted regarding possible towing for a parking violation and the sign must provide the name and phone number of the towing company that will do any towing so that the vehicle owner can retrieve his vehicle.
You should be able to determine the specific rules regarding towing by contacting the municipal or county government offices or the office of the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for the location of the property.
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Question
In CT what is time limit for objection by departing tenant to the withholding of all or part of the security deposit for cost of repairs beyond fair wear and tear and other fees?
Answer
Assuming a written lease agreement, the worst case theoretical time limit is probably 6 years, as that is the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit regarding a written contract in CT. For an oral contract, the time is 3 years. However, for the amount involved in a part of a security deposit the landlord is probably relatively safe after a month or so because departed tenants are most likely to be concerned about a few hundred dollars at the time when they are moving into different rental housing because of the costs related to the move.
However, the risk would be higher if you failed to meet CT law in some way – e.g., failure to provide a detailed account of amounts deducted from the security deposit (plus accrued interest required for CT) and return of the balance to the ex-tenant within 30 days. CT law appears to provide for a penalty of money damages equal to double the deposit amount (including the interest) for this failure. This, of course, would provide more incentive for an ex-tenant who is aware of the law or his attorney to file a lawsuit. If the matter went to court, a judge might consider other landlord failures related to the deposit – e.g., failure to have kept the deposit in the required type of bank account and/or failure to properly calculate the interest owed the tenant.
Once again, however, assuming you did provide an adequate accounting in a timely manner for the amount of money involved and the possibility that the ex-tenant is not even aware of the above and other possible legal issues, the chances are that you will not hear from the ex-tenant, particularly if you provided adequately detailed accounting of each item deducted from the deposit, including invoices of items and, if some amount was returned it included the interest on the total deposit for time of tenancy. Finally, be sure to keep all documentation regarding the matter for a long time, even up to the 6 years statute of limitations period.
I am not an attorney and cannot provide legal advice, only my thoughts regarding the matter based on my experience as a landlord and property manager.
If you are sued and have little or no court experience, you should consider being represented by an experienced attorney who specializes in representing landlords and, if possible, has experience with the judge who would hear the case.