Condo Parking Lot Abused by Renters and Overnight Guests

C.C. from outside of Connecticut writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

We have a Visitor spaces that are taken up each evening by overnight guests and renters on a frequent basis. The spaces are for occasional short term visitors staying less than 24 hours. No resident parking is allowed. What should we put on the sign to properly correctly inform illegal guests not to park in those spaces? We tag them now but want to legally start towing repeat offenders.

Mister Condo replies:

C.C., towing vehicles from association-owned parking lots is an extreme measure. I don’t know what you mean by “tagging” vehicles but you should be identifying the units that these vehicles are from, issuing warnings, and ultimately, fines to the offensive parkers. You can also implement a towing program but I recommend you begin with a better enforcement program first. The goal is not to tow away vehicles; the goal is to get unit owner compliance. Renters are no different than unit owners although you will be fining the unit owners and not the renters. The unit owners need to get their renters’ parking behavior under control. Fines usually do the trick. I would also like to recommend you read an article I wrote in October of 2015 dealing with parking lot abuses. I think you’ll get some good ideas from it – https://askmistercondo.com/parking-lot-abuses-are-out-of-control-at-this-condo/. Planning and perseverance are your allies, C.C.. Good luck!