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  • San Francisco bans apps that let you buy and sell public parking spots

    by 
    Nicole Lee
    Nicole Lee
    06.23.2014

    Anyone who's ever driven in San Francisco knows that parking in the city can be a nightmare -- garages are often expensive and street spaces are almost impossible to find, especially during peak hours. Several parking apps have cropped up to resolve that issue, a few by allowing folks to auction or sell their spots to others. Sounds like a neat way to make money, right? Well, there's a very important snag: buying and selling public parking spaces like that is illegal. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has just issued a cease-and-desist demand today to Monkey Parking, an iOS app that lets users bid for other people's parking spaces. The letter cites San Francisco Police Code section 63(c) that states: "It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to enter into a lease, rental agreement or contract of any kind, written or oral, with or without compensation, for the use of any street or sidewalk."