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Legal action against my cars

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Twinturbo120

10+ Year Contributor
475
24
Aug 14, 2010
Miami, Florida
I currently have two dsm's in the front of my house. I received a nice letter from the county basically saying I can't perform automotive repair on them and that the inspector deems them unrepairable. If I don't move them, it's 260 fine for each car. What do I do? I can't put them anywhere, I don't have anywhere to put them. And I'm sure as hell not going to pay a shop. Has this happened to anyone else here? Any insight would help. Thanks.
 
I also have 2 in front of mine, from what I understand if you have a cover over them they wont bother you, I have the cover on one and the other parked in front of it under carport, speak to inspector and explain very nicely this is a hobby, do not fight them because you will lose, of course it also depends where you live and if maybe neighbors are not being molested.

Try to reach a friendly agreement with inspector and give him a tour of your car if you have to and make him your friend.

Good luck
 
I have a cover on one and it didn't help. To make matters worse it's a woman with an attitude problem. I think I'm SOL. I hate people in this neighborhood. The cars have been here for a year with no problems. Until now of course.
 
Funny thing, It must be state wide. 2 of my cars in front of my shop got the orange stickers on them. I have 10 days to move them.

Do you have a boat/RV/Car storage lot anywhere close to you?
 
Most states follow a similar ordinance, I'm sure fine amounts & grace period vary by state.

All it takes is for a Pissed off City official to randomly drive by, Or a neighbor / HOA member to complain. If the vehicle registration is expired and or the car doesn't appear to be mobile or used periodically they're going to orange sticker ya.

I've had it happen to me in 2 different states and 3 different cities, my neighbor recently just had it happen to him as well. I've been told "cover it and you'll be fine" only to find another violation warning soon after.
The only options you have are to... move it out of sight, either off the property, in a garage / behind a fence, or make the cars drivable and with current registration.
 
I can't make the cars driveable yet, I have no money. Now I'll be broke because I didn't move them and have to pay 520 bucks. And even then I still have to move them. It seems like life doesn't want me to have these cars.
 
You cant strip one, store the parts and get rid of one?

You dont have a single person that could store one car for you?

I think like bogus said renting a storage lot would be a lot cheaper than your fines.

But yes within city limits cars that have expired tags and dont look like they run get the boot. This is anywhere.

Now luckily I live 40 miles from the city on 10 acres private property. I can have a dozen cars spread all over the lawn if I want, not that I do.

Good luck crappy situation
 
I can't make the cars driveable yet, I have no money. Now I'll be broke because I didn't move them and have to pay 520 bucks. And even then I still have to move them. It seems like life doesn't want me to have these cars.

They are just cars. Get on your feet and buy something better in the future. It sounds like you shouldn't be bothered with them now anyway. Trust me. Some of the best times of my life were when I sold my toy cars and drove a stock car for nearly 3 years. I got my finances in order and had no worry about mods or racing. I'm back now and in a better situation I've ever been in my life. Don't let a small sum like $520.00 break you.
 
Read the local ordinance and state statutes to see what the rules are before you do anything. There may be a loophole or a simple action such as current vehicle registration to bring you into compliance. I wouldn't trust an inspector to tell you what the law is in any case, read for yourself.

Edit: Also read the law to understand your appeal rights. Make sure you are acting timely according to the rules. I'm unclear on how an inspector deemed them "unrepairable" as the burden of proof is on them...did you grant them access to your vehicles? Good luck and you may have a chance in prevailing if they did not follow the process.
 
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Not sure about you guys, but coming from Montana I have never had an issue with this. To me it sounds a bit to Nazi'ish for my taste. And no offense I wont be moving to that state any time soon. That being said, Ask what qualifications the inspector has to order these vehicles non reparable. Truth be told I bet she has none. And in my professional opinion a person in this postilion should be ASE Certified. Probably wouldn't be able to beat it in a state court seeing as they tend to be biased and support one another. Might get lucky in a State Supreme Court. Truth be told man, how are they going to know you fixed it on your own. I understand that money is tight for everyone. But your best bet as said before would probably be a storage unit. I have stored and worked on vehicles in storage units before.
 
Yard art. You're an inspiringing artist and are exploring. Park them in your yard, cover them with flowers and dirt, and claim art. Giant flower pot. People do it here in my area all the time.

Seen on the news this dude had a couple of cars he was gonna fix in his driveway. City came along and said they've been there too long and they need to go. He yanked them into yard and put flowers all over them and claim he an artist. He got away with it.
 
Maybe you can work out a deal with someone local? You could offer one car up in trade for moving them both and storing the one you want to keep. Maybe they could even do some work on one and get it running for you?
 
Just ridiculous man...who gives a shit how it makes my house look, it's my house and my land..where people get off trying to tell other people what they can and can't do to their own property drives me up the wall. Hilarious how we made fun of all the old timers for screaming "communism!" at everything. I guess the joke was on us.


I had mine get a similar notice recently. Pansy ass HOA. Special circle of hell reserved for just them. I'd like to think of it as they have to live in a suburb with low income people and have no say about what any of them do. :p
 
Just ridiculous man...who gives a sh** how it makes my house look, it's my house and my land..where people get off trying to tell other people what they can and can't do to their own property drives me up the wall. Hilarious how we made fun of all the old timers for screaming "communism!" at everything. I guess the joke was on us.


I had mine get a similar notice recently. Pansy ass HOA. Special circle of hell reserved for just them. I'd like to think of it as they have to live in a suburb with low income people and have no say about what any of them do. :p


I agree with you 110% the reality of it is.....YOU NEVER REALLY OWN YOUR LAND. On paper it might say you own it. But any number of local, state and federal agencies can come in for any minor infraction of this code or that and Order you to change something, Seize it, Harass you and the list goes on. We went through a problem dealing with the city and county on my dads shop. My dad is getting older is retired and now on a fixed income. He no longer has the desire to build race cars or fast street cars. To much work and money, so he started building a "Man Cave" taking up half the shop. Now he has enough room for his motorcycle lift and his bikes/project bikes. Well sometime before the US Army Corps of Engineers had come in and redrawn the flood plain so now my fathers house sits within it along with the entire city. (Of course to make insurance money) It dose not matter that the house is 5 miles from the river, or that the main dike is like 30ft taller then main river depth. Dang thing has not ran full in years (Yellowstone) nor that as you head from the river in the direction of my fathers house the elevation rises and there are two sets of railroad tracks that could act as mini dikes as well. At any rate, the city and county got wind of what he was doing and tried to come over and scare him into letting them inside the shop to inspect it. My dad being a Ex Combat Engineer wasn't scared. Told them to piss off and come back with a warrant. They tried some sneaky stuff like cruising down the alley real slow to see if the shop doors were open. Tried to get the fire inspector involved (Who is also a Vet) In the end it was a total waste of time, A bigger cluster @$%^ and cost the tax payers god knows how much. In the end the mayor stepped and helped resolve the issue.
 
Only think you cn really do is find someone to help you out locally with storage. Pay to have them towed somewhere. Reach out to other Miami DSMers or other car people. Do some networking. But if/when you do get help, be sure to get those cars running as soon as you can.
 
If you want them there so bad pay the fine.. How long would would that buy you ? It's very understandable that he city don't want there streets looking like junk yards
 
And this is why I won't live in the city.

Do what you can to get them running or take the two and put together one. The storage idea is good. Look into the car friend help idea. Good luck.
 
I told Luda on Facebook that I'm between feeling bad for you, and suggesting you reevaluate your priorities. I've decided to go with the latter. If someone has 2 junkers on my street, I'd not be a happy camper, either.
 
I told Luda on Facebook that I'm between feeling bad for you, and suggesting you reevaluate your priorities. I've decided to go with the latter. If someone has 2 junkers on my street, I'd not be a happy camper, either.

Gotta agree. "Broke" and "having two project cars" shouldn't be in the same sentence.

Sell them cheap on craigslist to get them gone, cut your losses, and start fresh when you are in a better financial position to do so.
 
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