Moved on September 1? The Boston Parking Paperwork Has a 10 Day Online Window

September 1 moves a lot of households in Boston, and the parking paperwork is the part that gets forgotten until a ticket shows up on the windshield. Two things need attention in the first week at a new address: the resident parking permit, and the street cleaning signs on your block.

The permit is free, and it has a window

There is no charge for a Boston resident parking permit. For online requests, the City asks you to apply within 10 days of your move in date, and if you apply online, once the request is approved the permit arrives in about 10 business days. If you don’t want to wait, applying in person at City Hall with all the required documentation gets the permit issued that same day.

What the City checks

• A valid Massachusetts registration showing the car registered and principally garaged in your name at your current Boston address.
• Proof of residency. If you use a bill, it has to be current, postmarked or dated within the last 30 days, and carry the same name that appears on the car registration.
• A clean parking ticket record. You need to pay all of your overdue parking tickets before applying for or renewing a permit.
• No visitor permits. The City puts it plainly: there are none in Boston, and visiting family or friends will need to find off-street parking if your neighborhood requires resident parking permits.

The street cleaning calendar

The Daytime Street Cleaning Program runs from April 1 to November 30 in most Boston neighborhoods, so a September move lands in the middle of it. Daytime sweeping continues into the winter in the North End, the South End and Beacon Hill, where the program stops on December 31 and starts up again on March 1, and a Nighttime Street Cleaning Program runs all year on main roads, arterials and commercial roads. The signs on your street tell you the day and the hours, and there’s a No Tow reminder you can sign up for by email.

What it costs to get this wrong

A street cleaning ticket is $40, though the same violation in Charlestown is $90, and overnight street cleaning carries a $90 fine. On the same schedule, the violation called Resident Permit Only is $60 and the one called No Valid Resident Parking Permit/Sticker is $100. A tow costs a lot more. For police ordered or involuntary towing from private property, the maximum rate a private company can charge is $132 for the tow, set forth in 220 CMR 272.00, the DPU rates for the towing of motor vehicles, plus storage at $35 per 24 hour period under G.L. c. 159B, § 6B, and a fuel surcharge on top of that. If you’re renting for a year while you shop for a place to buy, get the permit in your first week and put your street’s sweeping day in your phone. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.