Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

City bearing down on illegal used car lots

People wanting to report a code violation may call the Las Vegas Neighborhood Response Line at 229-6615.

Las Vegas officials say the recent crackdown won't be the last as the Detention and Enforcement and Neighborhood Services departments target the illegal sale of vehicles on vacant lots.

It's a shady practice known as "curbing" or "curbstoning" that officials say lures would-be buyers in with cheaply priced cars with questionable histories.

In many cases, it takes a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the new owner to learn of the car's past, said Mike Modra, supervising investigator for the agency's compliance enforcement division.

"We've had cases where people come in when they've gone to register a car and found out the car is, in fact, stolen," he said.

While rare, such cases are extreme examples of how buyers who thought they'd found a good deal on a used car can be left holding the bag, Modra said.

The DMV has the authority to respond to complaints, mostly from neighbors adjacent to the makeshift lots. In most cases the DMV "tags" the vehicles for operating on the lot without the necessary permit or permission from the property owner, he said.

Meanwhile Las Vegas officials plan to continue frequent, joint enforcement efforts. One such effort July 30 on a city-owned lot at 1501 N. Decatur Blvd., near Vegas Drive, resulted in multiple citations and the impoundment of three cars, the city reported.

The enforcement is prompted in part by complaints from residents and businesses, according to the city. So far code enforcers have focused on vacant city lots but will begin notifying private property owners of violations.

Joe Boteilho, the county's chief of code enforcement, said his department's ongoing effort to enforce the 20-year-old ordinance often leads to a gradual decrease in the number of cars as sellers whose vehicles were either towed or fined "get the hints."

County enforcement officers last month towed or cited 11 cars at a lot near the corner of Charleston and Lamb boulevards, a recent record, he said.

Such impromptu displays can make busy intersections dangerous as rubber-neckers strain to scope out potential deals, Boteilho said.

"I think the biggest concerns is that at a busy intersection you have people stopping in the travel lane or creating a traffic hazard in the vacant lots," Boteilho said. "People are looking at the side of the road instead of a roadway."

Another 10 other privately owned lots have been targeted for enforcement following a string of complaints by upset neighbors, city spokesman Jace Radke said. Those unlicensed car lots, scattered throughout the city, are tougher to enforce because codes require the city give the owners 24 hours' notice before towing the vehicles, he said.

Displaying vehicles in violation of zoning ordinances can lead to a fine up to $1,000 and a maximum six-month jail sentence.

Wayne Frediani, executive director of the Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association, said there is no way for a would-be buyer to know that a car for sale on a random corner has undergone the necessary smog tests and odometer inspections before a title can legally change hands.

"You don't know what's being done on the street," Frediani said. "There's no way that you as a customer know the car is safe. Unless you're a mechanic, you don't know what the brake pads look like or when the last oil change was performed."

Not having a valid registration to inspect and with victims who are often reluctant to admit to officials they've been duped, it's difficult to track just how effective those efforts are, Modra said.

"The answer is I don't know," how often it happens, he said.

The number of times such deals occur also varies by who reports it. In most cases, two or three times a month, it is a neighbor concerned about an eyesore next door who calls the DMV. In rare instances, the customers themselves tell the agency, Modra said.

But much of customers concerns can be swayed by a age old mantra: Buyer Beware, he said.

"To turn money over before you see a clean title is just foolhardy, at the very minimum," Modra said.

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