Recently, residents of the Honglu Flower Garden Community in Hongqiao Town, Minhang District, complained that there are "zombie cars" occupying parking spaces for a long time in the community.
And this is not the first time they have complained. As early as September 2023, they reported exactly the same problem, and after 8 months, this "zombie car" did not want to "move the nest" at all.
Honglu Garden is an old community built in 97 years, with a total of 288 residents, but only 46 parking spaces. Many residents can only park their cars in the parking lot outside the community.
There are "zombie cars" in the community that occupy parking spaces for a long time
After understanding the situation, the reporter visited the site and found that the zombie car was still parked in its previous position, but the vehicle was covered with a silver cover.
The "zombie car" is covered with a silver cover
According to previous reports, this "zombie car" is actually a scrapped car that has not been inspected annually. But the miraculous thing is that the owner of this car has been paying the parking fee on time and in full for many years, and has spent more than 10,000 yuan in the past few years. As a result, the property has repeatedly received complaints but does not have the power to deal with it.
Property personnel interviewed
Why should car owners continue to "invest" in a scrapped car?
The reporter came to understand the situation but was turned away by the car owner.
The owner declined to be interviewed
The staff of the Hongqiao Town Government of Minhang District, to which the community belongs, also admitted frankly that they did not dare to act rashly because of the fact that they had been paying parking fees for this kind of "zombie car" that had been paying parking fees. Now they have contacted the vehicle management office to see if the vehicle can be scrapped, and at the same time, they will also guide the industry committee to add zombie car management matters when formulating the community convention.
Government workers interviewed
In residential complexes, it is not uncommon to see "zombie cars" parked for a long time.
These vehicles not only occupy public resources, but also have a great impact on traffic safety, driving and living environment, and are also easy to become fire safety hazards.
How to solve the problem of "zombie cars"?
Experts said that although the "zombie car" is personal property, it is by no means impossible to govern. If the owner of the zombie car is neither the owner nor the tenant, he can be required to move out in accordance with Article 276 of the Civil Code and Article 62 of the Shanghai Municipal Regulations on the Management of Residential Properties. If he refuses to move out, he can initiate a public security administrative punishment procedure through the public security organs.
Article 62 of the Shanghai Municipal Regulations on the Management of Residential Properties stipulates
Article 286 of the Civil Code can be applied to the solution to the dilemma of other types of "zombie cars": the owners' general meeting or the owners' committee has the right to request the perpetrator to stop the infringement, remove the obstruction and eliminate the danger in accordance with laws, regulations and management regulations for acts that harm the legitimate rights and interests of others, such as arbitrarily disposing of garbage and encroaching on passages. But experts also admit that whether it is through litigation or notarization to dispose of zombie cars, the cost is not low.
Relevant legal provisions
Therefore, experts call for increasing the "trade-in" policy support for scrapped cars to achieve source governance; and through legislation, linked to credit and other means, to urge car owners to dispose of scrapped vehicles as soon as possible, do not let zombie cars occupy the city's precious parking resources, affect the city environment.
In response to the problem of "zombie cars", some communities in Shanghai have effectively gathered the joint force of community governance and successfully dealt with a number of "zombie cars" in combination with their own situations and with the help and guidance of relevant departments. Their work experience may be able to provide reference for more communities.
The "linkage of the three institutes" helps the governance of "zombie cars".
According to the relevant person in charge of the Property Department of the Shanghai Municipal Housing Management Bureau, in 2021, the Office of the Leading Group for the Promotion of the Refinement of Urban Management in Shanghai formulated the "Interim Management Statute" and "Management Statute" and other model texts in combination with the actual situation of property management, which have clear provisions on the disposal of "zombie vehicles".
However, there are still many difficulties in grassroots practice. According to mainland law, even if the owner of the vehicle has already "abandoned", as long as the owner has not expressly waived his intention, the "zombie car" still belongs to the owner's personal and legal property, and others are not allowed to dispose of it at will.
In the past year or two, the "three institutes linkage" contradiction and dispute mediation mechanism led by the public security organs has provided new ideas for some communities in Shanghai to solve the problem of "zombie car" governance.
Zhonghong Community, located in Liangcheng Xincun Street, Hongkou District, has 4 "zombie cars" parked for many years, and residents have complained to the management department many times, and even threatened to smash the cars. After learning of the situation, the community police of the Liangcheng Police Station introduced the "three linkage" conflict and dispute resolution mechanism, and invited the neighborhood committee, property management, property committee and car owner into the mediation room, and the community police informed the "zombie car" of the hazards, the lawyer informed the car owner of the legal responsibility that should be borne, and the mediator organized the negotiation of parking fees - all parties started from their respective functions, looked for a legal basis, straightened out the legal relationship, and strived to let the car owner cooperate with their own disposal.
On this platform for conflict mediation, the attitude of car owners began to change. Originally, the community property company talked to the car owner, but the car owner did not pay attention to it and often did it perfunctory. However, through the "three linkage" platform, the community police, the legal counsel of the neighborhood committee and the mediator jointly interviewed the owners of the "zombie motor vehicles", which is both reasonable and legal, so that the owners can fully understand the legal responsibilities that need to be borne.
After several mediations and negotiations, the owner of the "zombie car" and the property owner finally reached a mediation agreement, and contacted the towing company to clear the "zombie car" out of the community at the agreed time.
Through many practices, this practice finally formed a working mechanism for the linkage disposal of "zombie cars" in Liangcheng Xincun Street. "In the mediation, the main demand of the car owner is to reduce the parking fee, the property will make appropriate concessions, and after the two parties reach an agreement, most of the car owners cooperate to dispose of the vehicle by themselves. Ai Yuan, deputy director of the Liangcheng New Village Judicial Institute, said.
Write work guidelines to help communities deal with them in accordance with the law
Last year, COSCO Liangwan City Community not only successfully cleaned up a number of "zombie cars", but also formed a working guide for disposing of "zombie cars" in the community in accordance with the law, and explored the construction of a long-term mechanism for governance.
In June 2023, under the guidance of the Shanghai High People's Court, the Shanghai Putuo District People's Court set up the "Neighborhood Committee Law Garden" in COSCO Liangwan City, striving to resolve conflicts on the front line through the way judges sink into the community. There are 3 "zombie cars" in the community, which have not been properly solved. After receiving a request for help from the neighborhood committee, the case filing division of the Putuo Court assigned the sinking judge to participate in the joint meeting of community governance, and determined a working group led by the neighborhood committee, the property committee, and the property management company, with the court, the police station, and the traffic management department as the coordination.
Soon, the police station found out the source of the vehicle and locked the work object. The court, the staff of the neighborhood committee, the resident volunteers, and the property company jointly came to the door to educate the owners of the parking space management norms and the potential harm of "zombie cars", and clarify the legal risks. In the end, the owner took the initiative to clean up the vehicle. It took about two months, and the problem of "zombie cars" that had plagued the residents of the community for five or six years was solved.
"The key to dealing with 'zombie cars' is to clarify the legal relationship and then combine legal and reasonable. Adhering to this concept, the "Neighborhood Committee Law Garden" has compiled the "Zombie Car" Remediation Community Work Guide, which clarifies the process of dealing with "zombie cars" in accordance with the law and provides legal guidance for the community to carry out remediation work in the future.
The guidelines make it clear that the community should first organize property management, social workers, volunteers, and corridor team leaders to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the motor vehicles parked in the jurisdiction, take photos of suspected "zombie cars" for evidence, establish a list of vehicle information for investigation, and register information such as parking locations, vehicle number plates, brand types, and damage levels, so as to achieve "one car and one file".
The suspected "zombie car" should be reported to the community police by the property company, and the community police will then report to the district traffic police department, and the vehicle information will be compared and queried through the query system. Confirm the owner, contact information, and home address of the "zombie car" through the method of "car looking for people".
After finding the owner of the car, for the owners who refuse to cooperate with the removal on the grounds that they have the right to use the parking space, the sinking judges, capable people and enthusiastic residents will take emotion, reason, and law as the standard, explain the law and reason, and inform them that while enjoying the rights, they shall not infringe on the interests of other owners, and because the parking of "zombie cars" may affect the rescue or evacuation, they also need to bear the corresponding legal responsibility.
The judge pointed out that if mediation fails, a civil lawsuit can be filed in the people's court. If the owner of the "zombie car" occupies the property right parking space purchased by the owner, the owner may file a lawsuit to exercise the right to remove the nuisance and require the owner of the "zombie car" to drive the vehicle away.
If the vehicle of the owner of the "zombie car" occupies the public part of the community, it should be distinguished whether the owner of the "zombie car" is the owner of the community and be classified: if the owner is the owner of the community, the competent entity may file a lawsuit with the court in combination with the property service agreement and other provisions to require the owner of the "zombie car" to pay property fees, parking fees, etc., and if the owner is not the owner of the community, the "zombie car" will be targeted For the act of parking vehicles in the community, the competent entity shall file a lawsuit with the court in accordance with the contractual relationship of motor vehicle custody or the temporary rental contract of the parking lot, etc., and claim the relevant expenses.
Source: Shangguan News