Abandoned
Cars
Sometimes
it is obvious that a car is abandoned, sometimes it's not.
The rule of thumb is to wait to see if a car has not been moved for
five days before reporting it.
Follow the steps at right to report an abandoned car.
Getting an abandoned car removed requires persistence & patience. The city's resources for removing cars is limited, but they are pretty good at dealing with this problem.
How to deal with abandoned cars
- Call the Police Community Service line at 617.343.4524
- Select voicemailbox 5
- Leave the location of the vehicle. Prefereably house #
- Leave the color and make of the car
- Leave the license plate number if there is one
- Say how long it has been there.
- The police department will investigate and tag it with a green ticket, and submit a tow order.
- If you seea green ticket on the car, you
should then call the Boston Transportation department and:
- Tell them about the car giving the information above,
- That there is a green ticket on the car.
- Get your neighbors to do the same
- They are open at 7 AM, call 617.635.4283.
Tips and do's and don'ts:
- Do encourage your neighbors to call in abandoned cars.
- Accept that it might take more than one call.
- Be courteous. Our experience is that the city is pretty good about removing abandoned cars, but the staff for this task cover the entire city, there is no local towing staff.
- Do not vandalize the car or leave notes.
- If you do not drive your car
much, be sure to move it at least once a week. Even moving
it one space will be obvious to most observers.
- If you will be out of town for a while, you might consider asking a friend to move it for you.