There’s a car that’s been parked in the visitor spot of my building for 4 months. Hasn’t been used and is dusty as hell. Registration (from another state) expired back in September.
Is it possible to claim this car for myself given it’s abandoned, unregistered and unroadworthy? At worst, can I sell it to scrap metal if I take the plates off ?
I insure cars with shannons that are not registered. It's a policy called laid up cover. It's a product built for protecting the likes of project cars or investment cars that are not driven
Why aren't you reporting it to the Owners Corporation, instead of trying to claim it as yours?
Cause fInDeRs kEepErs.
The only time I'm aware of you can take posession of an abandoned vehicle is if theres money involved - eg: you're a mechanic and the owner hasnt paid their repair bill.
Just call the council…
Where is the mspaint diagram? How can we possibly be expected to give advice without one?
Agree
Report it to the complex manager, chances are they know the owner.
NSW rules - https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/stra…
Removal of motor vehicles
An owners corporation can move a vehicle that blocks an exit or entrance or otherwise prevents the use of common property. The owners corporation must meet certain notice requirements before it can move the vehicle.
If a vehicle isn't moved by the date stated in the notice, the owners corporation can move the vehicle to another place on the common property or to the nearest place where it can legally moved.
If this is done, the owners corporation is now the owner of the vehicle….
and should make sure it’s not damaged in the process.
You forgot to add this part… (conveniently)
Meaning they own the liability for the vehicle, a "duty of care" to see that they vehicle is not damaged while being removed from the property. It does not mean that the body corp. can just go around putting signs on vehicles and after 5 days "assume full ownership" of that vehicle. What they own is the responsibility to not damage that property and to see that it is removed carefully.
To actually take full ownership possession of the vehicle, they would still need to seek legal avenues to take ownership possession of the vehicle and to have it sold at a fair and reasonable amount and to only take reasonable costs associated with the removal of the vehicle.
For example, the body crop. cant just put a notice on a $50,000 car and after 5 days, claim it as theirs. Nor could they just sell that car for the $500 in fees it cost to get a tow truck to yank it out into the street.
Just do it, you obviously don't want to take any advice from people here anyway.
Vic might be different but the answer is only a google search away
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/stra…
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/uncollected-veh… may apply, but elsewhere on the Vicroads site it specifically says "The police should be contacted if the abandoned or illegally parked vehicle is on private property.".
Best OP doesn't just stake a claim. It might contain a body. ;)
Do not touch it.Report to your local council for removal.Take it & you are stealing.period!(fFact)
What car is it? What did the police say when you called them?
Come on downvoter, explain yourself instead of being a coward.
It may be covered by insurance, including on a general business policy (as distinct from a personal car policy). When you take it, the owner reports it to police as stolen to make an insurance claim. You try to sell car, as scrap or otherwise, police come to visit you.
I suggest you report the car to your body corporate or building owner(s). They’ll probably put a notice on it, and follow up with a process to have it removed. Unclaimed it’ll probably end up at an abandoned car auction.
I’m not sure if scrap rates have improved, but it used to be a scrap yard would pay a token amount, like $100, if you delivered the car to them, or they’d pick it up and pay you zilch. Not a goldmine.
Probably someone waiting for you to steal and claim the insurance on car theft
If you could just claim an abandoned car. Tow truck operators would own car yards
Next topic from OP is I need help. Police have arrested me and I don't know why. I found this unregistered car and took it for myself and scrapped it for cash. Looks like it was a stolen car used in a murder. Gee the thing could be a neighbours. Leave it or call police to deal with it to remove it.
Well you need to get it towed
You cannot just claim it. Not sure if OP is well versed on theft laws
NO… that would be theft.
Since the vehicle is parked on private property, the police/and council are powerless.
The only people who can act are the body corporate who can enquire into ownership and issue notice of disposal from property if unacknowledged.
If what you propose, would be tantamount to "re-birthing".
It would only be rebirthing if he tried to use the VIN from a legally acquired car to hie the identity of an illegal car (stolen, stat written off, or otherwise not allowed to be registered under it's real VIN).
I'm surprised that the Owners Corp have allowed a car to take up a visitor parking space for 4 months. Suggest checking with your strata manager in the first instance.
Our neighbour reported a car that was left parked on the road in front of his house after only a week. A bright coloured A4 sticker was soon affixed to the windscreen & the car was removed not too long after that. The turnaround from reporting the vehicle to it being gone was not very long but then again, my neighbour would have been monitoring the situation closely.
there is a car left in our building for freaking years. the building managers clamp it like 4 years ago. we have pretty low basement car park so maybe a towing truck cant get in
Also cost/benefit. If the visitor car spaces aren't commonly full, the benefit of having an extra one free might not be worth it.
But yeah, body corp is just the collective will of the owners as a group. If they don't want to do anything about it, in this case there's not any responsibility or requirement that they have to.
4 years is crazy … you need a neighbour who is retired to manage the building managers 😉
its locked for 4 years, it has been there longer than that. like 5 maybe.
similar happened in my complex.
it took a month before anyone noticed and reported it to the body corp.
took another month for committee meeting to agree to call towing company.
another month before it actually got towed.
I have the same situation, car abandoned in visitors carpark. Reported to body corp, has been sitting there for the past year.
OP is seeking confirmation to justify stealing a car on ozbargain.
gets told off.
OP continues to try and reason with the pack to why he thinks its 'finders keepers'..
so why even post on here lmao
Why was this commented down voted? It's a quite accurate assessment.
The original post might be a genuine question/curiosity, but the follow-up responses do indicate that he wants to enact 'finders keepers'.
'..Because OZB said I could..' is not a good defense/response to the police.
Call the council and get it removed
Council won’t care, unless OP can push it out onto the rod.
Its strange that automobiles / vehicles have more protection than properties. Via squatter laws this house was claimed and sold to the person that "found" it.
6 Malleny St Ashbury
The requirements for claiming land by squatting (adverse possession) are a lot higher and stringent than what's needed to claim goods. Still not high enough imo, but apples to oranges.
But as just one point of distinction, it requires actual possession. OP doesn't even physically possess the car - it's on common property and locked.
As another point of distinction:
Property developer and tax agent Bill Gertos rented out the Ashbury home, in the city’s inner west, for two decades
He also put in a lot of money to renovate and fix up the property which made it a very big gamble.
Surely he can get it "towed" legally and access the car via "already" broken window. etc.
BTW. I use to walk past that house on my way to Canterbury Boys. It was one of tons of derelict houses along that corridor. I wonder if any are still in the process of being claimed.
Common property, so only body corp can get it towed.
And Canterbury vs Ashbury. It's an expensive (and time consuming) gamble to try to deliberately set out to claim by adverse possession - the Ashbury one was by a property agent who had most/all the necessary skills and time already.
And he would've been out a lot of money and effort if the real owners had just shown up a few years earlier.
Its probably a PT Cruiser. No one wants to admit owning it.
Seems OP is convinced they're doing it anyway, and trying to justify their flawed logic on OzB.
Officer: "Please tell me how you came into possession of the vehicle".
OP: "Well it was sitting in a common parking lot for 3 months, so I just thought it became mine. A bunch of people on OzB disagreed but I didn't".
I went to a store and someone had left something on a shelf…just left it there. I was going to take it and a security guard stopped me. THE NERVE!!!!!
LOL you all have been trolled .
Its very hard to pick up after the first 4 posts :)
Plot twist - The car is used from 12am to 6am everyday but OP doesn't know about it because he's sleeping whilst the legal owner of the car is working. JAIL TIME
I'm calling the cops.
SWAT came into my house, disrespected my whole family because somebody narc'd me out! And you know what? It was YOU!
Get on the floor, smack that.
OP will need to squat in/on the car for more than 12 years to claim the ownership.
Finders = keepers. That's written in the law somewhere yea? Let me check my law book.
It's Mabo, it's the vibe
While you're stealing the car, don't forget to remove the VIN! lol
Just drag it onto the road, then it can be towed by council/police. I had the same issue where some prick had parked in my spot at our small apartment block. I asked all of our neighbours if it was theirs and they all said no. I said I would drag it out onto the road if it was still there that evening. Despite everyone claiming it wan't theirs, it was mysteriously gone by the evening.
If you're going to do this then it's best not to advertise it. Moving it onto the street is also illegal.
for 4 months
Wow, greed gets the best of people.
Can see Scotty opening a new site OzScab
Put it on wheels, carefully place it on the road and then complain to council.
Make sure you don't damage it.
Call the police to remove the car.
Couldn't be arsed reading all the posts but a google search turns up list of stuff for OP to read
Scroll and read
"Can I legally claim an abandoned car?" etc
in our strata garage is something like a 1983 Mazda 323 or Ford Escort - I forget - they looked about the same.
It's not only covered in dust - folk had written various comments in the windshield dust - but it's been sitting so long all tyres are flat. Rego probably expired in 1988 or something like that.
Turns out the owner is a hoarder - can't bear to part with it.
Not quite the same case as OP - there should be rules about how long a car is allowed in a visitor carpark.
So hey - a FREE CAR!! - or a potential criminal record for theft … meh - wanna go 50/50 on your chances ?
Kidding right?
It's probably someone in the complex that has no where else to store it. what attempts have you made to find the owner?
Waiting for legal advice post
Don’t hold your breath.
Please wait until he is released from jail, then we'll have the post.
A neighbour of mine had a stolen car placed in their garage. The owner of the car was identified and notified. They refused to claim the car. The car sat there for over a year and my neighbour was not able to move it or claim ownership.
They basically paid someone to discreetly take the car and trash it.
Point is, in this situation they couldn't take ownership of the car, so in your case, it's still a no.
There is a strict procedure that must be followed but its not up to you OP to do that.
So in short…NO!
I had heard that international students do this, buy a car, use it in Australia, and just leave it parked at units when they have to go back to their home country.
The person also told me how it causes body corporates all sorts of problems as they have to pay to get the cars removed.
The answer to the abandoned car is very simple and obvious.
Her body is in the boot. Properly stored.
I wouldn't touch it …
OK, I've given this a bit more thought, and came up with a similar line of reasoning…
The house down the road is always abandoned between the hours of 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. This has been going on the last 30 years. However, I sleep 14 hours a day from 6pm to 8am and extrapolate that the house is always abandoned.
Therefore, I claim that house.
The owner went to Europe for a sabbatical… You don't just take over something that is not yours…
OP just needs to squat on it for long enough until Squatters Rights kicks in like VTEC, yo.
Jessie? that you?
Thanks for all the advice. I have not touched the car but removed the plates and am using them on occasion (parking etc)
So you just admit to stealing someone's plates ? Can we report this guy to the cops lol is this even allowed on ozbargain?
Why are you using the plates?
Joy rides while passing 100s of speed cameras would be my guess
They don’t own the plates. They expired. They were leased by the person but they don’t own them.
I guess it’s the least you can do to send them a few fines for leaving the car there.
(The govt owns the plates)
If it wasn't obvious this whole thread is a troll, it now is.
What a sad, pathetic existence one must have to troll a site like OzBargain.
I actually think this is a good goal in life to have
I guess at least 2 of you are sad little kids then, shame.
Absolutely a troll thread. No chance someone would just use plates, unless they are hitting up the local 7/11 with a 4wd
Lmao
Youre gonna get busted in less than a day unless your car model is exactly the same as the abandoned car
Actually the first copper will pull you over for driving an unregistered car hahaha bye bye proceeds of crime and value of scrap metal
It’s a $100 fine. No biggie.
For Victoria;
Use of vehicle where registration label altered, incorrect, misrepresented or not affixed in accordance with regulations = $165
Use of vehicle with altered, incorrect or misrepresented number plate = $330
Driving unregistered/uninsured = $826
Then there is the criminal matter of "theft of plates."
@pegaxs: The last fine would not apply. My car is registered.
I’m not driving it with those plates, just parking with it in 2 hour spots all day.
Pics or it didn't happen
What you want to see?
You using the removed plates! (I thought that was obvious)
MODS - please close thread (troll)
Car would need to be registered for insurance claim.