4 unit condo. 3 of the units reside/live on site. 1 renter on the other unit. each unit has 1 tandem parking spot in driveway. city is permit street parking only. each of the 3 units who own/live at the residents also has permit parking, with offers a decent quality of living not moving the vehicles constantly, because parking on the street is an option. Owner of the unit that rents refuses to make renter register there vehicle with the city, thus giving them exclusive driveway rights. Is it the law in Massachusetts to register your car with the city you live in? they will be there for +1 calendar year. I'm aware the condo docs have mention that each unit has his/her own parking spot, but with the cities recent conversion to permit parking, I would imagine state law registering your car with the city would supersede?
Submitted by gwm1518 on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 11:51
Parking registration
The parking permit system is voluntary in most municipalities, that is to say that residents aren't required to register their vehicles unless they want, though in most cases it makes a good deal of sense for them to register. In the case of a condo resident who is renting, that would mean that there is no obligation to register the car. However, different cities and towns may have different civil codes concerning this question so it would be important to verify the requirements with the town.
The documents that regulate common privileges and obligation for condo residents (the By-Laws) are almost always private contractual agreements between the owners and therefore aren't effected by any changes to the city's public law. Just because a town institutes permit parking shouldn't imply any changes to the terms of the condo docs.
If the concern among the majority of condo owners is to reserve designated parking only for condo OWNERS, thereby excluding renters from using those spaces, one alternative would be raise the question of changing the terms of the condo agreement at the next condo association meeting. Assuming the ownership shares are more or less equally distributed (e.g. w/ a 5 owner condo, each has a 20% ownership share), then if the majority of owners are in favor of altering the condo docs to restrict on-site parking to owners only, they could do this. But so long as the the docs are silent on the question, the owner of a rental unit generally would be free to assign his parking space to renters if he/she wants to.
Furthermore, until such a change to the condo docs is effected, I can't see why even if renters did register their auto for a parking permit that that would somehow deprive them of their driveway privileges. Again, though, this is assuming there is no language in the condo docs specifically restricting this. Many condo by-laws do include general restrictions on who can rent and under what circumstances. It would be worth while to look closely at these sections of the agreement to see if they don't somehow implicitly restrict a renter's use of the driveway. If the owners are unsure how to interpret the condo by-laws, the condo association can agree to higher an attorney to advise them on the question and have those services paid for with any reserve from the condo fees.