Towing from private property DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towing company won’t tow your car if you’re parked legally in a public space.

But if there’s any doubt just move your car, why fight with what sounds like it might be a crazy person?

I live on a city block where parking is really tough. This area is behind the sidewalk between two townhouses (one of them being mine) and might therefore seem private. According to the DC zoning map the part of it next to my house is not part of any lot. The other half belongs to the other townhouse. However, the person claiming it is theirs does not own or live in either of these two houses. They have just been parking there for years. Yesterday, we left the car there after coming from a long weekend and needing to offload the car and found an anonymous extremely rude threatening note on our windshield asking us to immediately move the car. I am just wondering how credible this threat is.

It's not a credible threat. Weird that some random dude is parking his car between two houses that he doesn't live in!

Install a fold-down parking bollard in the spot: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7171/Safety-Guards-Barriers/Fold-Down-Safety-Bollard-45-x-36?pricode=WB6672&gadtype=pla&id=H-7171&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9HsoM26hAMVlElHAR2jRwt8EAQYASABEgLIh_D_BwE

If you use the space long enough (15 years), eventually you qualify for adverse possession in DC: https://www.findlaw.com/state/dc-law/district-of-columbia-adverse-possession-laws.html

I spoke to the DC surveyor office and they confirmed this is public space. It used to be a public alley which does not exist anymore, just this area between the two houses remained. Half of it is public and the other half belongs to the townhouse on the other side. I don’t think you can gain adverse possession to public property.

In that case I would try to buy the other half of the parcel from the city. Very odd that your neighbor got half the parcel, but your house gets nothing. Your neighbor could start using that parcel in a way you don't like - building a fence, storing junk, etc. - and you would have no recourse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towing company won’t tow your car if you’re parked legally in a public space.

But if there’s any doubt just move your car, why fight with what sounds like it might be a crazy person?

I live on a city block where parking is really tough. This area is behind the sidewalk between two townhouses (one of them being mine) and might therefore seem private. According to the DC zoning map the part of it next to my house is not part of any lot. The other half belongs to the other townhouse. However, the person claiming it is theirs does not own or live in either of these two houses. They have just been parking there for years. Yesterday, we left the car there after coming from a long weekend and needing to offload the car and found an anonymous extremely rude threatening note on our windshield asking us to immediately move the car. I am just wondering how credible this threat is.

It's not a credible threat. Weird that some random dude is parking his car between two houses that he doesn't live in!

Install a fold-down parking bollard in the spot: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7171/Safety-Guards-Barriers/Fold-Down-Safety-Bollard-45-x-36?pricode=WB6672&gadtype=pla&id=H-7171&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9HsoM26hAMVlElHAR2jRwt8EAQYASABEgLIh_D_BwE

If you use the space long enough (15 years), eventually you qualify for adverse possession in DC: https://www.findlaw.com/state/dc-law/district-of-columbia-adverse-possession-laws.html

I spoke to the DC surveyor office and they confirmed this is public space. It used to be a public alley which does not exist anymore, just this area between the two houses remained. Half of it is public and the other half belongs to the townhouse on the other side. I don’t think you can gain adverse possession to public property.

In that case I would try to buy the other half of the parcel from the city. Very odd that your neighbor got half the parcel, but your house gets nothing. Your neighbor could start using that parcel in a way you don't like - building a fence, storing junk, etc. - and you would have no recourse.

As I said the part next to my house is recorded as public alley. The other half was always part of the lot of the house on the other side. They did not put a fence around though so it now looks like one area for two cars. The reason I started looking into this is that the guy who parks there also started storing his trash there and then pulling it in front of our house on trash day often with loose bags of trash and boxes around the bin which then get kicked around or blown around by the wind. I confronted him about that and now he pulls the cans out after we switch off our lights before trash day and puts them to the side of the other townhouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towing company won’t tow your car if you’re parked legally in a public space.

But if there’s any doubt just move your car, why fight with what sounds like it might be a crazy person?

I live on a city block where parking is really tough. This area is behind the sidewalk between two townhouses (one of them being mine) and might therefore seem private. According to the DC zoning map the part of it next to my house is not part of any lot. The other half belongs to the other townhouse. However, the person claiming it is theirs does not own or live in either of these two houses. They have just been parking there for years. Yesterday, we left the car there after coming from a long weekend and needing to offload the car and found an anonymous extremely rude threatening note on our windshield asking us to immediately move the car. I am just wondering how credible this threat is.

It's not a credible threat. Weird that some random dude is parking his car between two houses that he doesn't live in!

Install a fold-down parking bollard in the spot: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7171/Safety-Guards-Barriers/Fold-Down-Safety-Bollard-45-x-36?pricode=WB6672&gadtype=pla&id=H-7171&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9HsoM26hAMVlElHAR2jRwt8EAQYASABEgLIh_D_BwE

If you use the space long enough (15 years), eventually you qualify for adverse possession in DC: https://www.findlaw.com/state/dc-law/district-of-columbia-adverse-possession-laws.html

NP
Maye that's what the guy who is claiming it's "their spot" has done?

He doesn't qualify for adverse possession until after 15 years of documented use and then he files a claim with the city to get it platted in his name and starts paying property taxes. OP already stated that the land is not owned by anyone, which I am sure OP discovered by looking at DC's property database. It's probably city property.

OP - the plat lines in the online tools offered by DC are not exact. I actually doubt your neighbor's house "owns" half the parcel; that is just likely an inaccuracy of DC's online property tools. I'd definitely pay a surveyor to survey the parcel + your property lines. A surveyor can confirm if your neighbor does indeed "own" half of the empty parcel.

It is not an empty parcel. I have my survey from when we purchased the house and I spoke to the DC surveyor office today and they confirmed this is still recorded as public space. I doubt they would be able to claim exclusive possession. We park there every now and then for a few hours too. The area is accessible from the street and random contractors not able to find parking often use it too. Would he still be able to claim adverse possession under these circumstances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The towing company won’t tow your car if you’re parked legally in a public space.

But if there’s any doubt just move your car, why fight with what sounds like it might be a crazy person?

I live on a city block where parking is really tough. This area is behind the sidewalk between two townhouses (one of them being mine) and might therefore seem private. According to the DC zoning map the part of it next to my house is not part of any lot. The other half belongs to the other townhouse. However, the person claiming it is theirs does not own or live in either of these two houses. They have just been parking there for years. Yesterday, we left the car there after coming from a long weekend and needing to offload the car and found an anonymous extremely rude threatening note on our windshield asking us to immediately move the car. I am just wondering how credible this threat is.

It's not a credible threat. Weird that some random dude is parking his car between two houses that he doesn't live in!

Install a fold-down parking bollard in the spot: https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7171/Safety-Guards-Barriers/Fold-Down-Safety-Bollard-45-x-36?pricode=WB6672&gadtype=pla&id=H-7171&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9HsoM26hAMVlElHAR2jRwt8EAQYASABEgLIh_D_BwE

If you use the space long enough (15 years), eventually you qualify for adverse possession in DC: https://www.findlaw.com/state/dc-law/district-of-columbia-adverse-possession-laws.html

NP
Maye that's what the guy who is claiming it's "their spot" has done?

He doesn't qualify for adverse possession until after 15 years of documented use and then he files a claim with the city to get it platted in his name and starts paying property taxes. OP already stated that the land is not owned by anyone, which I am sure OP discovered by looking at DC's property database. It's probably city property.

OP - the plat lines in the online tools offered by DC are not exact. I actually doubt your neighbor's house "owns" half the parcel; that is just likely an inaccuracy of DC's online property tools. I'd definitely pay a surveyor to survey the parcel + your property lines. A surveyor can confirm if your neighbor does indeed "own" half of the empty parcel.

It is not an empty parcel. I have my survey from when we purchased the house and I spoke to the DC surveyor office today and they confirmed this is still recorded as public space. I doubt they would be able to claim exclusive possession. We park there every now and then for a few hours too. The area is accessible from the street and random contractors not able to find parking often use it too. Would he still be able to claim adverse possession under these circumstances?

Sorry, I forgot to add that the other half of that empty space is drawn as part of the other townhouse property in my survey. The houses next to it have identical parcels. This guy just did not fence his off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience was that I needed to call 911 and get the car ticketed by MPD before the tow truck would tow a car on my property. That allows the car owner to figure out where their car went and keeps it from being considered stolen. The police and tow truck came pretty quickly once called! I was actually surprised they didn't ask for any proof that I owned the parking space...

That is what worries me. That they just remove the car with no real evidence it is parked illegally. However, now, based on what I heard from the DC surveyor, it is actually illegal parking, as it is formally a public alley.

[Anonymous]

There was a posting on Popville about a similar issue a few years ago. There was an old alley that was eventually closed off and subsumed into rowhouses' backyards, but the alley entrance still existed between two rowhouses. There was a dispute about some random person using it for parking with the two adjacent home owners. I tried looking for the post, but couldn't find it.

Try to look for it. It was pretty informative and interesting.

I still say that you install a folding & locking parking bollard in the spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a posting on Popville about a similar issue a few years ago. There was an old alley that was eventually closed off and subsumed into rowhouses' backyards, but the alley entrance still existed between two rowhouses. There was a dispute about some random person using it for parking with the two adjacent home owners. I tried looking for the post, but couldn't find it.

Try to look for it. It was pretty informative and interesting.

I still say that you install a folding & locking parking bollard in the spot.

Thanks. I will try to find it. I cannot do this. It is public space and it would not fly very well with the dude who is parking there now. We left the car there for a bit over an hour yesterday and the tone of that note we received was quite something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience was that I needed to call 911 and get the car ticketed by MPD before the tow truck would tow a car on my property. That allows the car owner to figure out where their car went and keeps it from being considered stolen. The police and tow truck came pretty quickly once called! I was actually surprised they didn't ask for any proof that I owned the parking space...

That is what worries me. That they just remove the car with no real evidence it is parked illegally. However, now, based on what I heard from the DC surveyor, it is actually illegal parking, as it is formally a public alley.

Then maybe you can get him ticketed and towed!! Better yet, talk to a real estate lawyer to see if you can get ownership of the parcel. DC does sell and lease public parcels sometimes.