City: Never-ending yard sales are not okay
Posted at: 06/07/2012 8:27 AM
By: Maria Guerrero, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Spring and summer usually mean garage and yard sales will be popping up all over the city.
But the city says: beware of the never-ending yard sale. You could face a hefty fine or even jail time and not even know it.
There’s a good flow of traffic into a neighborhood on Zena Lona Street in the Northeast Heights.
The problem, one neighbor says, is what’s attracting some people here.
"It's a nice neighborhood and it makes it look like a junky neighborhood," said John Trumbull of Albuquerque.
He’s talking about the yard sale next door that’s overstayed its welcome.
There are clothes, tables, a baby car seat all out in his neighbor’s driveway.
Trumbull says the sale has been continuously going on for a couple months.
“I've called the city several times and also gone to their website and left feedback and haven't heard back in a month or longer," he said.
So we went looking for answers.
Trumbull’s neighbor, Valerie Berget, cautiously approached her fence. We asked her if she's been having her sale for three months.
"No, I've been having this sale every weekend,” she said.
But when asked if someone comes up and wants to buy something today, a Wednesday, she said she would sell it.
Berget says she’s trying to get rid of all the stuff she had in storage and make some money doing it.
But how long is too long when it comes to garage or yard sales? The city says you can have only one garage/yard sale a year and it cannot exceed three days.
"I didn't know that,” said Berget about the rules.
"Yeah, I can understand that a lot of people are not aware of our regulations," said Juanita Garcia, assistant planning manager for the city's Code Enforcement Division.
Garcia says violations can cost you a $500 fin or even jail time.
"Oh yes, we have taken folks to court for violations in regards to yard sales," she said.
Garcia said they received Trumbull's complaint last week and will send an inspector to the neighborhood this week. Berget said she’ll be cleaning up her never-ending yard sale.
Something else the city says people don’t really know about - the regulations for yard sale signs.
Signs should not be placed in medians or on utility poles.
To read more about the city regulations, click here.
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