'Abandoned' car question with a twist

Lulu58

Grumpy_chap said:

It does not matter who owns the car and whether it is abandoned or not is a matter of opinion (firstly) and then fact (as can be established).

Do you think the vehicle has been abandoned?

Lulu58 said:

A car was dumped in the car park of our block of flats a few months ago.  

It's been parked badly but is not in the way of anything as such.  The inside of the car is a tip and looks like someone was living in it.  It has a SORN and no MOT.

Put those facts together, would a reasonable person think the car is abandoned?

If so, stop over-thinking the issue and simply log the online report to the Council.
If your Council is anything like mine, they won't do any effort to locate the owner but will check the SORN / MOT status online, then visit the car and if they agree it is in a state simply apply a 30-day notice to claim the vehicle or risk losing it.
The Council will have a subsequent process, but that sticker is usually sufficient to resolve the majority of dumped vehicles.

Thanks, Grumpy-chap. You've raised some valid points.

I'm not over-thinking it, just a little concerned as I and several other leaseholders have had a run in with the son before and he's really unpleasant and aggressive. 

He's just been given a little more time to remove it so if he hasn't done so at the end of that time I'll report it.

Herzlos

If you're being threatened by the car owner too, then it's worth reporting that to the police as well. They'll probably do nothing but at least you'll have a record of it.

TooManyPoints

We were thinking if we could find out who actually owns the car we could deal with it accordingly. 

The DVLA do not keep records of ownership. There is no such thing as the "Registered Owner" only the Registered Keeper (who may or may not be the owner.

Lulu58

TooManyPoints said:

The DVLA do not keep records of ownership. There is no such thing as the "Registered Owner" only the Registered Keeper (who may or may not be the owner.

OK, so we need to know whether the son is the registered keeper!

theoretica

Lulu58 said:

TooManyPoints said:

The DVLA do not keep records of ownership. There is no such thing as the "Registered Owner" only the Registered Keeper (who may or may not be the owner.

OK, so we need to know whether the son is the registered keeper!

What will this information change?  If he isn't the registered keeper but says he is the owner he will remain an unpleasant person involved in the situation.

Lulu58

theoretica said:

Lulu58 said:

OK, so we need to know whether the son is the registered keeper!

What will this information change?  If he isn't the registered keeper but says he is the owner he will remain an unpleasant person involved in the situation.

Originally I wanted to know so we could decide what to do, ie if he isn't the registered keeper we could report it to the council. If he is, then maybe we would handle it differently. 

However, with the feedback on this board we've decided to report it to the council if he hasn't sorted it out within the agreed timescales.

Yes, he will still be an unpleasant person.

scrappy_returns

theoretica said:

Lulu58 said:

TooManyPoints said:

The DVLA do not keep records of ownership. There is no such thing as the "Registered Owner" only the Registered Keeper (who may or may not be the owner.

OK, so we need to know whether the son is the registered keeper!

What will this information change?  If he isn't the registered keeper but says he is the owner he will remain an unpleasant person involved in the situation.

No you don't. That changes nothing.
Report it to the council and they may come get it. They might not cos its not council land. Also why do you want it gone, cos its an eyesore? Is it your land? That might make getting it gone harder.
If certain you wanted it moved with or without the councils help a set of skates, tow rope and friend with a 4x4 would come in handy but expect that to escalate quickly.

Car_54

Grumpy_chap said:

Lulu58 said:

The council's web page says we can report if but only if the vehicle has been abandoned, otherwise not. We don't know if it has been abandoned

We were thinking if we could find out who actually owns the car we could deal with it accordingly.  If it doesn't belong to the son we could report it to the council as abandoned. 

It does not matter who owns the car and whether it is abandoned or not is a matter of opinion (firstly) and then fact (as can be established).

Do you think the vehicle has been abandoned?

Lulu58 said:

A car was dumped in the car park of our block of flats a few months ago.  

It's been parked badly but is not in the way of anything as such.  The inside of the car is a tip and looks like someone was living in it.  It has a SORN and no MOT.

Put those facts together, would a reasonable person think the car is abandoned?

If so, stop over-thinking the issue and simply log the online report to the Council.
If your Council is anything like mine, they won't do any effort to locate the owner but will check the SORN / MOT status online, then visit the car and if they agree it is in a state simply apply a 30-day notice to claim the vehicle or risk losing it.
The Council will have a subsequent process, but that sticker is usually sufficient to resolve the majority of dumped vehicles.

Apart from the SORN and MOT, those are opinions rather than facts!