Getting rid of abandoned cars
Can you please post the procedure for lodging a complaint about an abandoned or derelict vehicle? Is there a timeline that owners are granted in order to move their (derelict) vehicle before an abatement notice can be issued?
Auntie’s answer: Good question. I cannot say how many rusted-out, wrecked cars I have seen alongside roads and sullying random patches of green. I am sure that nobody likes seeing those and it is embarrassing to think that our visitors are noting them as well.
There is something you can do to help remove these vehicles, though. The path is through the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) and there are three ways to voice your concern.
You can go in person to the department (Cayman Islands Environmental Centre, 580 North Sound Road) and speak with a request and complaints officer, who will log your grievance. Or you can email or call DEH (743-5942) detailing your complaint. The third way is to visit the DEH website to download the complaint form, then fill it out and email it to the department.
After a complaint is received, a DEH official explained, “it is logged, followed by an investigation, and if substantiated the vehicle would be properly tagged (or signed-off by property owner) for removal”.
Under The Litter Law (1997 Revision), a DEH officer shall give notice to the person who has abandoned the vehicle that requires the owner “within 24 hours of such notice, to remove the derelict vehicle so as to restore the public place to a condition satisfactory to the officer”.
Anyone who doesn’t comply with that notice will be liable on conviction to a fine of $500 and an additional $100 for every day he fails to remove the vehicle. The next step is that the officer can then remove the car and dispose of it in any way he sees fit, which includes selling it. Other clauses allow for the owner to reclaim the car after either paying the back fines and expenses for removal and storage, or having those charges deducted from the sale price, if it has already been sold.
The law mentioned in this column can be found on the CNS Library
Category: Ask Auntie
What rights do landlords have for former tenants that won’t move their car(s) after they have moved.
What about an abandoned 40 foot trailer that was put by a Jamaican on his property (illegally probably) so he could store the junk they like to store ie broken down anythings. He no longer lives there and the thing was always an eyesore but will stay there forever rusting away.
What about boats that are turning into great rusting hulks along some canals? Some of them have been there for years.