How to get relatives car off my property

[Avacadosprinkles]

A relative has left their car in my garage for the last 10 years. I want to sell my house and they won't move it. They could move it to their own property but don't want to. It was always meant to be temporary. I have brought it up several times over the years and they just brush me off with excuses every time. I have ran out of patience. What legal route do I need to take. I don't want to dispose of or sell the car I just want to get it towed to their driveway, but Google seems to suggest I could be prosecuted for criminal damage if I do

so they have a key to the a garage? Honestly you really needs to grow a pair and stop making excuses. If someone started calling me names. I just wouldn’t put up with it. Why are you?

What a ridiculous drama, stopall the hand wringing. Get it towed and left at relatives house, unlikely to be damaged and if they cared they'd have moved it before now.
Why so many on MN are so passive and unable to just make a decision.

I am not the only one seeing this, then! Phew!

You don't even need legal cover. Standard home insurance almost always includes a free 24 hour legal helpline. The solicitors on those heplines can't act for you, but they can advise you on the law.

I post many times about this. I didn't have legal cover, but my insurer's legal helpline saved my mental health when I was going through some horrible legal stuff. I was able to call them as often as I liked, and once I had all the facts, the reassurance and the confidence I needed, I was able to instruct a lawyer.

That saved me a vast amount of money as well as my sanity. Without exception they were empathetic, knowledgeable and helpful..

As others have said, and now AI:

• Write a formal letter (not just texts or conversations) giving a firm deadline, for example 28 days, requiring the relative to collect the car because the house is being sold.
• Send it by a method that proves delivery (Recorded or Special Delivery) and keep a copy.
• State that if it is not collected, they will begin the legal process available to someone who is an involuntary baileeof goods left on their property. The relevant legislation is the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
• If the deadline expires, speak to a solicitor before taking further action. A solicitor can send a formal "Torts notice", which often prompts action because it makes clear there are legal consequences.

If the relative still refuses, the owner of the garage may ultimately be able to recover costs or, in some circumstances, exercise the statutory power of sale after following the correct notice procedure. That process is technical, which is why legal advice is worthwhile.

💯 this

Just get on with it.

When the house sells it'll have to move.

You have time to figure out what the best way is to do that while the house is on the market.

So get the house on the market and they can SEE YOU MEAN BUSINESS and no more f%*king around with the excuses.

Your other family will understand. It's no longer a 'how long is a piece of string' arrangement, it's a full and final 'get it the f#*k off my property before the house sells' necessity.

You need to stop caring so much about what family members think of you.

You are painted by your relative as a big meanie, who cares!?!

OP has explained why towing it to the owner's house puts her at risk.
OP wants to minimise risk to herself.

This uas got to be an ex surely 🥵

No need to get heated up!

you have given 80% of the relevant info here upon probing and probing. Yet, it’s your relative who is unreasonable.

i had left the thread, however, as was looking to respond to this, i see you also gave another 5% of missing info prior to this. Truth is, it seems odd given you are intend on not upsetting family dynamics (whatever those are), you feel doing it the ‘legal’ way is less nuclear.

courts don’t issue a notice saying b remove car from A house and that’s the end. It is a process. It is a process where everyone must have clean hands and will be required to say what exactly is going on. You seem unable to answer what exactly is going on, why you are hesitant to do this or that etc; which is what I have commented on. You need to manage your expectations as to what the courts can do to help you: get B move his car, keep family dynamics clean/ undisrupted; and upon which you will stop contact with this close relative.

i hope you have enough funds to pay solicitors for this ‘process’.

IAAL (not this area). Humour me. Where is the legal wrong in hiring a tow truck and returning the car to them, you having revoked your permission for them to store it in your garage and they having refused to come and get it?

I agree you’re making a much bigger deal of this than you need to. Reading between the lines, it sounds like they’re going to make themselves the victim no matter what you do, so I’d take the path that causes you the least stress.

If the car ends up being scrapped, that’s not because you’ve been unreasonable, It’s because they’ve left it in your garage for 10 years with no intention of moving it, despite you needing to sell your house. Their inaction is what’s led to this point.

Whatever legal route you take, they’re probably not going to like it anyway. So I’d stop worrying about how they’ll react and do what’s necessary to move things forward.

Your family are already aware they like to play the victim and if they don’t are they really worth worrying about.

Not getting heated up, just don't understand what I'm meant to being secretive about.
I think I've explained what is going on, I don't know what additional information I need to add
Why would the courts not order for the car to be removed from the property?

Book a crane recovery service, have them crane it off your land and delivered to your relative. The company will be fully insured for the transit. What’s he actually going to do once it’s at his house? It’s not theft if you deliver it to him. Take photographs before it’s moved. If he takes you to court, let him. What’s he going to claim for if the car isn’t damaged? And if it is, it’s the carriers responsibility.

You asked: Why would the courts not order for the car to be removed from the property?

Instead, tell us why the court should order the car to be removed from property and why, in your view, no other non-court alternative is suitable.

For some reason, reasons only known to yourself, , you are struggling to see the full picture. I hope your appointment with your Solicitors is tomorrow. Good luck with it.

Honestly just sell your house, tell them.when you about to move, they either get the car or not, its really not that hard

Do the torts, sell it to yourself for a nominal amount, insure it, get it towed over - job done!

You are making a total mountain out of a tiny molehill. The actual legal risk is miniscule. The relative has obviously bullied and intimidated you to the point where you are not thinking clearly.

Move the car to the road. Report relative to police for harassment at the first sign of trouble. Move house. don't give them your forwarding address. Block their number.

OP, can you find out who the car is insured with and give them a call to explain your situation, perhaps saying that (even though I know you don't want to do this) the house is going to be sold and if the car is still in situ, you can't guarantee the new owners will not forcibly remove it?

Recovery truck would happily take it to them.
Or you could push it out onto the road. Let them know the car is on the road.

Who is the relative and why do you seem to want to dance around what is actually a very easy issue? If they start calling you names why do you care what they think?

Stop letting them on to your property.

No matter what you do, it sounds likely that family dynamics will inevitably be screwed. As @GrannyGoggles says, lowlloader and send it to his. The RAC might be useful here! They took our very dead car away not long ago, to be fair, it wasn’t locked. Do you have Homestart?

Dont delay the house sale, don’t you see how crazy that sounds? Solicitor’s letter, low loader-inform idiot relative of your intentions to move the car. Do it.

It's not a crime for the car to be on my property so police won't be interested as it's a civil matter.
Torts only seems to cover disposal or selling the car.
Council won't remove as far as I'm aware as it's on private land and sorn.
That why I created this thread to ask what other options I have. Another porster said I could apply to county court to get a court order for removal. This is why I've asked questions about this
I want to keep it legal and I want to act as reasonably as possible as it is a blood relative and the impact on other relationships if I just go nuclear and issue the tort and get it scrapped when they know it's worth money and relative will use it as a way to make me look like the bad person. If I can legally get the car towed and left on their property, then I would like to do that.

Not a helpful suggestion OP but I would absolutely see red and I could see myself towing the car myself and dumping it in a parking lot, ringing relative saying ‘your car is in Sainsburys, bye’.