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Black market for lot passes grows

September 10, 2008

A growing number of students are searching for the golden campus parking pass that grants access to the empty spaces behind those pesky “Employee Permit Required” signs.

And with the rising popularity of Web sites such as AllMSU.com and Craigslist.org, a black market for campus parking permits has flourished.

The “parking spaces” tab of AllMSU’s classified ads had 72 listings as of Wednesday.

But some of the passes available online are not legitimate and MSU-issued permits are not transferable, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

Most permits being sold online are for graduate student or faculty parking privileges.

“From what I’ve heard, they’re pretty ridiculously expensive,” communication senior Ryan Knoblock said. “As long as they’re not being used illegally, and they’re not doctoring the expiration dates or anything, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

But students must register their vehicles and buy parking passes only from the parking division of the MSU police, McGlothian-Taylor said. If a permit is on the wrong vehicle, it can be seized by MSU police.

About 10 permits have been confiscated this semester by MSU parking staff and police have received multiple complaints from staff members about a faculty parking permit posting on Craigslist.

The posting lists a $750 faculty parking pass that gives access to any employee parking lot or ramp until June 2010, according to the Craigslist description. The same posting also can be found on AllMSU.

The person who placed the ad declined to comment.

Faculty permits are sold through the parking division for $426 and parking in residence hall lots costs between $170 and $256.

Other online ads tout the permits as a great option for freshmen who are not allowed to have cars on campus, or as a way to get a spot in a sold-out parking lot.

“What you have there are students purchasing permits and selling them to other students,” MSU parking operations office supervisor Lynnette Forman said.

Knoblock didn’t buy a campus parking pass and said parking at meters can be a challenge.

“I think they should up the limits on a lot of them. It’s kind of a scam – a lot of them have an hour time limit and (there are) not a lot of hour-long classes,” he said.

This is the first year MSU police have noticed a problem with the permits being sold on Craigslist, but say they have seen them before on AllMSU.

“People want to be very careful about what they purchase off those lists,” McGlothian-Taylor said.

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