PBOT now tows cars without license plates, visible VIN

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A major rule change for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will go into effect Tuesday.

PBOT will now be able to tow cars without notice if the cars do not have at least one license plate or a visible VIN.

PBOT said since the pandemic, they have seen an increase in the number of people removing license plates or even hiding their VINs to make them unidentifiable for parking enforcement purposes and to avoid being held accountable for violating parking or other laws. The aim of the new policy is to address this behavior first.

For some, cars and trailers on the side of the road are their home, and they are concerned about how this new rule will affect them.

In Southeast Portland, part of Foster Road is lined with campers, trailers, and cars where people like Melody Jones live.

“We were at 102 and Ankeny, but we moved here a few days ago, it was very busy there,” Jones said.

Jones often sweeps the sidewalk where he parks. He said he wanted to make this place as nice as he could for his grandson. Jones and his family are waiting for an apartment voucher to be approved. In the meantime, they live in caravans. Some have license plates, some don’t.

We asked Jones if he’d heard of the new PBOT rule.

“No, no I haven’t heard anything about it,” Jones said. “I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t think it’s right.”

Jones said these unlicensed cars and trailers are all many people in Portland have.

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Down on Jones there are more unlicensed RVs and cars in the neighborhood. Several homeowners said they support the rule change and hope it will clean up their neighborhoods. Others say the rule goes too far.

“I honestly think they should be given some notice,” said John, a Southeast Portland homeowner, “maybe 72 hours is too long a notice period, but I think it’s inhumane to pull them out without notice.”

PBOT said this new rule will help parking enforcement officers quickly clear vehicles that violate city rules. They said they didn’t want to take away anyone’s home.

PBOT issued a statement on the matter, which read in part;

“This does NOT change the way the council works to address public health or safety concerns about people living in vehicles. PBOT works with: Street Services Coordination Center And Mitigation Program regarding criteria and decisions about how the city will respond to concerns about people living in vehicles on city streets.

“I don’t think anyone leaves completely, we always leave someone with the trailer in case something like this happens. I’m not going too far,” Jones said.

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