parking tickets on private property

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Illinois
I live in Berwyn Illinois and have recieved 10 parking tickets on my property. Our garage burned down a few years before we bought our house and all theat is left is the foundation(it's just missing the walls and door).Two of the three cars we have are not driveable. One has a broken motor and the other has not been driven in over a year and can't even start. We took the plates off of them because they don't go anywhere. My question is, do the police have the right to go on my property and issue these tickets when they are parked on my property?
I should be able to make them into big giant planters if I want to since again it is on my property. The tickets were for no city sticker and no plates. We got the first five on Friday and the last five on Monday. I feel like we are being targeted for not having a garage and we are easy pickings.
Plese let me know if they have that right.

If the violation they are citing the cars for includes cars parked on private lots as an element in the violation, then yes they can.

We do code enforcement all the time on properties where cars are parked in yards. Publicly accessable property has fewer protections than if you put a fence around the whole thing. And if you put a fence up, there are other avenues the city could probably take to keep your yard from looking like a scrap yard.

Carl

If the violation they are citing the cars for includes cars parked on private lots as an element in the violation, then yes they can.


No I was parked on the concrete foundation that my garage once stood. The violations were no state plate and no city sticker. There was no reason for him to think that my car didn't belong there. Illinois

Have you looked up the law for the code section you were cited for? What does it say?

That is where you will find whether or not the violations are appropriate or not.

Carl

re parking tickets

No it doesn't say anything about even if on private property they can ticket you.
But what if I put covers on the cars.They can't take them off and give us tickets, can they? Illinois

Jamilee30 said:

No it doesn't say anything about even if on private property they can ticket you.
But what if I put covers on the cars.They can't take them off and give us tickets, can they? Illinois

Click to expand...

My response:

How long were you thinking of keeping it a secret?

IAAL

How long were you thinking of keeping it a secret?


Long enough for us to be able to afford a garage,considering the original burned. and in case you didn't read the oringinal question, the cars that got the tickets are cars that we can't drive because they are broken. Not to mention that they are parked on our private property. Unless you are one of the few who benefited from this economy you should understand that a family of five that are homeowners have a lot to pay for on a regular basis and don't need the added financial strain of parking violations that are cited on cars that are not parked on the public street but on my property. So it is not that we are keeping it secret,it's that we have a lot on our plate and should not have to worry about be picked on for not having something that we can't afford to get, just to have a cop ticket our cars on our property. I should be able to make the cars into giant planters and call it art if I want to.

My response:

Okay, I'll rephrase the question - -

How long were you thinking of keeping the Code Violation Number a secret from us? Perhaps, just perhaps, someone might want to look it up, and comment further on your thread.

IAAL

Sorry I'm just a bit defensive lately. the code number is 420.01 and number 462.07(B). Thank you. Illinois

Sell the cars?

Jamilee,

The whole thing may be a registration problem. I might be incorrect, but I believe in most states the police have the right to verify the registration of vehicles randomly, including looking under a car cover. They do this in VA. If the city stickers are required to prove payment of taxes, or completion of inspection, then those are what your being cited for, NOT parking.

If the cars don't run, and have not run for a while, it seems you most likely don't need them. If your finances are tight, I would sell the cars and use that money towards something else --like a new garage? Also if the cars are complete rust-buckets, there are local codes being violated, ie keeping property in unsightly condition. If they just don't run but the bodies are in good shape, some people will still pay a half way decent amount to use them for spare parts or re-builds. If you want to keep the vehicles, you may be able to register them as hobby cars which MIGHT enable you to keep them in undriveable condition for extended periods of time. Hope this helps.

Actually, I would think that walking on to someone's private property and looking underneath a car cover to read the license plates would be illegal. I know there is case law on the issue ... but it might be CA case law rather than USSC or even the 9th Circuit. However, it would seem to be a Constitutional violation - but I'll check for sure when I get to the office.

However, in this situation it seems that the problem might be that the cars are scattered around the yard. I would think that there are more appropriate code sections to deal with the matter rather than parking violations.

Carl

Can't peek under car covers on private property here either.

But I can't find the cited sections in the IL vehicle code. I suspect it may be a local/municipal law - probably about abandoned vehicles, not registration.

Could be as "You Are Guilty" said, local violations.

In our town you are not allowed to have cars w/o current tags or proof of insurance. We would be in violation of the "blight ordinance". However, they usually give notice and some time to clean it up. It is totally to help keep the city from becoming junk yards.

But you wouldn't think they would ticket you 5 times in one day, weird.

Actually it was five each day for a total of ten tickets. The cars are on concrete foundation that the garage was and would be. The cars not running are a 2000 civic ( that we still owe on) and a 88 mustang with a broken motor. They all look decent and are parked very neatly so it couldn't have been because it looked like a junk yard. I also found out that they can't look under the car covers because they would have to have just cause. I talked to my alderman and he is going to come when I contest them to represent me. He thinks that they violated our rights. So we'll see what happens. Thanks for the info. keep it coming! I could use all the help I can get.

I doubt you'll get very far.

To me, it seems like a "junk vehicle" ordinance violation to me...we have something similar in town here.

Basically, a complaint comes in, we go investigate it, take photos, etc. If we have to walk on the lawn to get to the car, we do it.

I know the Fed court out by CDW is a bit liberal () compared to us here in WI, however, I don't believe that would be a civil rights violation on the fact that you an officer has PC to believe that a violation is occuring.