How a ‘nice guy’ ended up with 100 cars he can’t get rid of

From news accounts, it appears that because Jose Vasquez, of Elk Township in southwestern Minnesota, is a nice guy, he’s got almost 100 cars on his land that he can’t dispose of.

The Worthington Daily Globe reports the Nobles County Planning Commission is on Vasquez’ case to try to get a conditional use permit for his farmland where people are “storing” their cars.

Vasquez, who first appeared before the commission a month ago, says he fixed the cars for some people who never came back for them.

Other people asked him to “store” their vehicle while they’re out of the country. But it sounds more like they dumped their old cars on him.

“You mean well, but we think you’ve been taken advantage of — at least I do,” Commissioner John Penning said.

People apparently asked him to store their vehicles, then never picked them up again, making their problem his problem. Vasquez can’t get rid of them because he doesn’t have the title to any of the cars.

Commission members apparently tried to tell Vasquez that if people haven’t come for their cars after two years, they’re probably never coming back.

“I know if I had a friend who left a vehicle on my yard for two years, it would have been gone a long time ago,” commission member Richard Schlichte said.

The commission considered giving him six months to get rid of a third of the vehicles on his property, but decided to invite him back in May to see how many vehicles he can get rid of on his own.