Can we dispose of a car abandoned by former resident of apartment development?

L_earner

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A former resident of our apartment development left his car behind in our car park more than a year ago, having already left it parked there for a few years. He left no forwarding address and no phone number. I thought this would be straightforward but it is not. A scrappage company refused to take it unless we had the vehicle registration certificate. Can we order a certificate ourselves, or is it only the owner who can do that? What other legal options do we have?
 
Contact the management company, they should be in a position to get it towed, but it might take some time for them to get the proper approval.
 
We had this problem, went to the Garda, if you are paying rent for the use of the parking place, the management company own the land and it is up to them to remove the car.
 
In the case of an apartment development I presume that there's a management company, in which case get them to deal with it?
Absolutely. Assuming it's not taxed or insured they can start reporting it as an abandoned vehicle.
 
Assuming it's not taxed or insured they can start reporting it as an abandoned vehicle.
Report it to whom?

There is no obligation to have it taxed or insured if it's on private property.

This is a civil matter between management company and the owner of the vehicle.

If it's towed and left on the street it becomes a public issue.
 
So you had a case of a a visibly abandoned car on a public road with out-of-date tax, insurance, NCT and no registration plates.

Did your local authority refuse to have it towed in these circumstances?
No. Abandoned car with reg plates was taken away by DCC. Funnily enough it was also a privately managed area but not gated.
 
The council will eventually remove an abandoned car parked in a public place, regardless of whether it has plates or not. They have a process to follow to try and contact the owner. It can take a number of weeks or even months for that to happen.

Process can also be applied for private property

Do you have a car parking enforcement contract with a clampers, if so, they may do it for you
 
I have read that a local authority will only tow an abandoned car if the plates are removed.

It is common enough to see a vehicle abandoned in a public place with the registration number plate being subsequently removed.

I often wondered if local authorities could match the chassis number of an abandoned vehicle with a database of chassis numbers and vehicle type details - the object of the exercise being to reacquaint the owner with his dumped junk !
 
The concern I would have about removing an abandoned car on private property is the possible comeback if the owner turned up and claimed compensation in the tort of conversion. Practically, this is unlikely but some people are unbelievable :rolleyes:
 
Many thanks for all the replies. It took an eight week saga to get the car removed. Short version: County Council wrote to the last known address of the registered owner. Turns out the person we thought was the owner had in fact borrowed it and never returned it. Real owner did not complain him because he was down on his luck and she did not want to get him in trouble. She is now happily reunited with her car.
 
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