Wonder if anybody can help with this?
There's been a car abandoned in my block of flats for a couple of years, no registered owner, flat tyres etc. No idea who it belongs to. Not in bad condition though, and I was wondering if I could just assume ownership, i.e. just try and register it through DVLA.
Anybody done this before or have any idea what I'd need to do?
Tks
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It must be possible, but I bet it won't be easy, I would try e-mailing the DVLA or something and let us know what they say.
Blue
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As Blue says try writing to DVLA for last keeper details and try and trace the owner.
Otherwise taking possession of it yourself is fraught with danger as it could be classed as theft.
If it looks as if it has been dumped then report to local council who have a duty to remove if dumped on land in the open air. Liaise with them if they uplift and instead of crushing buy it off them, if they will agree, for a nominal fee. By doing so you gain rights as the owner so no theft charge.
DVD
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It looks terribly tempting I know, but a colleague came horribly unstuck doing this. He was given a motorbike that a former tenant of a friend of his had abandoned years ago, having run off without paying the rent. A few months later he found himself in court charged with theft. He was fined, and of course lost the bike, which he had meanwhile restored. The "untraceable" owner had mysteriously materialised.
It's odd that you can squat in someone's empty property with no penalty, and even end up owning it, but take a rusty abandoned eysesore and you may end up in court with a criminal record.
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Its been dumped for a reason, take it on and you take on the reason it was dumped for!
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Some cars are abandoned because their owners mysteriously need to leave the country at very short notice; there may be nothing wrong with the car. If it has been abandoned on private land it could be tricky; one was similarly abandoned in front of a factory where I used to work. The council wouldn't do anything initially, and the landlord wasn't too concerned. The car stayed there for several weeks; cannot remember who eventually had it removed. Maybe you complain to Environmental Health at the council ref possible leaking brake fluid, antifreeze etc, or high risk that vandals will torch it. Don't know how you go about staking a legal claim on abandoned property though.
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Hand it in to a police station?? Lost property.
I think we have been here before, but a cursory search didnt find it.
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pmh (was peter)
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