Sleeping in a Vehicle and the Law

Factual Questions
1

I recently became reacquainted with an old friend that I hadn’t seen in many years. As we filled each other in on the events of our lives over that period, he told me something that I found quite interesting, and that led to a few questions in my mind.

He said that a couple of years ago, he was literally homeless for about 6 months. He had been laid off his regular job for some time and had difficulty finding another. Though he had some income from web-based commerce (he bought unusual or collectible items at thrift stores and sold them on eBay), he got to the point where he just could not afford to pay rent any longer.

So, for half a year, until he got a great job offer, he literally lived out of his van. He would check e-mail and auctions at the library or with an old laptop at an internet cafe, and got mail through his P.O. Box. Once or twice a week, he would check into a cheapie motel for a shower and shave and to sleep in a real bed, but most nights he simply parked his van and slept in the back.

Now, I found this prospect to be rather uncomfortable sounding, but he said that he never had a problem. His beloved old van looks like crap from the outside, so he never feared someone trying to break in or steal it when he was asleep in the back. And he never got hassled by the cops – his basic m.o. was to park on a side street where overnight parking was permitted, about 1000 feet back from a major thoroughfare (to both minimize traffic noise – earplugs also helped – and to not park in the middle of a residential neighborhood where a strange vehicle might arouse suspicion). No one could see in the van, and he had access from the cab to the back without exiting the vehicle, so no one could know that there was anyone inside. (He also used a large mason jar to deal with midsle of the night bladder attacks, but I shall not dwell on that subject at length…) <g>

I suppose that as long as he was legally parked and not visible to the outside, there was little chance of harassment. But I was wondering – what laws or statutes are being technically violated by doing this? Is it some sort of loitering law that you’re not supposed to sleep or stay overnight in a vehicle? And in general, if a nosy cop does determine that somehow is sawing wood in a parked vehicle in the middle of the night, does the average gendarme simply ask the snoozer to move on, or issue a citation? (Or do they even care – after all, it’s pretty hard to commit any dangerous crimes while asleep…)

And finally, has anyone else done this, by choice or circumstance, and what was the experience like?

2

I can’t speak on the legal aspects, but I have slept in my van before. Not for six months, but for a few days in a row on long road trips. The biggest obstacle I found was just finding a suitable place to park - in addition to the concerns you listed above, it also needs to be level ground for a comfortable sleep.

3

On my cross-country trips, I stop and sleep at Rest Stations. I’ve never been harrassed, and I’ve seen other people do it, as well as cops driving through. I don’t know what the rules are for non-Rest Stops, tho.

4

Not sure on the legality of it. But I too once had a buddy who lived out of his van for nearly a year. Once the local police found out about it, they constantly harrassed him whenever they saw him parked somewhere. He was told to move or he would get some kind of vagrancy ticket. Not sure if they were just giving him shit or not. FYI, this was in a fairly rich suburb of the twin cities.

5

I’ve slept in my car in the Twin Cities and didn’t have a problem with it. I plan to do some squatting over the summer up there, as well.

I can understand the inclination to think that it would be illegal, since it’s an abnormal thing to do, but I don’t really see why it should be illegal. If you’re parked legally, and you’re not making people think you’re stalking someone, how does it hurt anyone?

6

Just spoke to another friend about this, and he said that loitering statutes are often used for this – he said that if you were just standing outside around the vehicle, you would be considered to be loitering, and that being inside the vehicle doesn’t change that. (Of course, loitering laws are either enforced or ignored largely depending on what sort of neighborhood is involved. In a high crime area, cops tend to have a suspicion about anyone who is just hanging out with no apparent purpose. But then, cops tend to be suspicious of EVERYONE…)

But his other suggestion blew my mind. He said that he also believes that if you are sleeping overnight in your car, you are reckoned by the law to be “camping,” and since camping is only allowed in actual campgrounds, they can use that to harass you and tell you to move on.

Weird.

7

I don’t know anything about the legality of it but, for what it’s worth, when I was called for jury duty the case was car manufacturer vs. a guy who’d been living in his pickup. The vehicle caught fire somehow and the manufacturer’s defense was that the warranty didn’t apply because the vehicle was being used as a residence. I wasn’t selected for the jury so I don’t know what the outcome was.