Running monthly parking on a small lot takes four things: numbered spaces, a signed agreement with each parker, a card charged automatically every month, and a routine for payments that fail. Parken Lot does all four for monthly parkers. It does not handle hourly or transient parking, and it is not a pay station.
Setting up
- Add the lot and its spaces. Number them the way they are painted, and tag any that are covered, EV or accessible. See Adding your spaces.
- Set the monthly price for a space, and what an additional vehicle costs. A space can also have a price of its own, or be free.
- Choose the agreement. The starter Monthly parking agreement runs month to month, and either side ends it with written notice. The templates are a starting point, not legal advice. See Your contract templates.
- Set up payouts, so what parkers pay reaches your bank. See Getting paid: payouts and bank accounts.
- Invite each parker by email or with a link. Before they take a paid space they give their name, telephone, a vehicle and a card. See Inviting somebody to park.
Billing
- Each space is billed every month to the card on file, and the parker gets a permit for the space and their registered plates.
- A second vehicle is charged separately, at the additional-vehicle price, and the parker sees the price before adding it.
- The money is yours. Parken Lot takes no share of what parkers pay you. See Does Parken Lot take a share of what my occupants pay me?
- Reports show occupancy by lot, revenue collected by month, who is behind on payment, and turnover, and each one downloads as a CSV file.
When a payment fails
The parker is emailed and the payment is retried. If it keeps failing, the permit is suspended, and a suspended permit fails any check. After a further period the space is released, and offered to the next person on the waitlist. The parker is told before each step. This is set out in the Recurring Payment Authorization and the Parking Terms.
Parken Lot does not chase a debt beyond that. What happens to an unpaid balance after a space is released is between you and the parker.
No-shows and empty spaces
- A parker who pays but rarely parks still holds the space. Parken Lot does not track whether a car is actually there.
- A space that nobody holds shows as open in the occupancy report. When every space is taken, new parkers join the waitlist, and a space that comes free is offered to them in order.
- Ending an arrangement: open the space and choose End this assignment. The permit is revoked, monthly billing stops, and the space is offered to the waitlist.
Parken Lot does not refund or credit unused days: a parker pays for a period, and ending part way through does not bring any of it back. If you choose to give money back, that is your decision and comes from your own account, outside the software.