If you are renting from U-Haul, you may be curious about just how many days you can keep a u-haul vehicle. How many days you can keep a u-haul before it is reported as being stolen by U-Haul.
This can be very important to know, depending on your situation and how long you need the u-haul. Especially if something does not go as planned and you need it for longer.
Keep reading to find out how long you can keep a u-haul before it is considered stolen.
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How Long Can I Have a U-haul Before It is Reported as Stolen?
If you are three days late to return your rented u-haul, U-Haul has the right to report the vehicle as stolen to the police. Despite this very small window of time, U-Haul rarely reports stolen vehicles this quickly and usually waits an additional day or two.
Some locations have even waited as long as twenty days after a rental was supposed to be returned to report it as stolen. As serious an issue as this is, most U-Haul locations do not want to have to go to the police immediately.
Many U-Haul locations will first do everything in their power to contact the renter before having to call the police to report the problem. This creates a messy situation that U-Haul would rather avoid if possible.
That being said, you most certainly should not try to keep your U-Haul rental for longer than the time that you have paid for. Doing so could get very bad very fast as the vehicle could be reported as stolen.
If, for some reason, you are not able to return your rental on time, you should always contact U-Haul to let it know. Doing so will allow you the extra time needed to drop off your rental without being reported.
This will cost you an extra fee but will ensure that the u-haul is not reported as being stolen.
What Happens If You Keep a U-Haul Too Long?
If you keep a u-haul for longer than you rented and do not drop it off on time, U-Haul can report this to the police. After three days, this can be reported as a stolen vehicle if you have not attempted to contact U-Haul to resolve the issue.
If you do end up needing more time before dropping off your u-haul, calling ahead can stop this from becoming a reported crime. Call U-Haul to let it know that something has come up to delay you being able to drop off your rental.
If you let U-Haul know about this, a new rental plan can be arranged until you are able to drop the u-haul off.
U-Haul charges an additional $40 per day for u-haul trucks that are late, while u-haul trailers will cost $20 per additional day. For towing devices, you can expect to be charged $20 extra per day until you return the rentals.
All of these additional late charges will be added to your end bill once you drop everything off at the U-Haul location. U-Haul also offers a grace period for those who are late and cannot make their rental drop-off.
Make sure to ask about this grace period to see if it applies to your situation.
What Happens If You Don’t Return a U-Haul?
If you willfully do not return a u-haul at the time when you were supposed to, U-Haul has the right to report the u-haul as stolen. This is where the police will get involved and will look for the stolen u-haul.
U-hauls are not available to be sold after the company is finished with them, so they are usually pretty easy to find. It does not take much work for the police to locate this kind of stolen vehicle.
You also had to provide your address, phone number, financial information, as well as other sensitive information when renting. This gives the police a good place to start in locating you and the u-haul.
Once found, you can expect to be charged with grand theft auto, failure to return a rental vehicle, and other kinds of similar charges. This can become very serious very fast, especially if you had the u-haul for a significant amount of time.
Overall, this is just not a good idea as u-hauls are unique and very easy to locate by the police. You also have given U-Haul all of your personal information, so you cannot just go off the grid.
Sooner or later you will be caught, and it just isn’t worth the trouble or the consequences that come afterward.
When is a U-haul Reported as Being Stolen?
A u-haul can legally be reported as stolen three days after it was supposed to be dropped off. After three days of trying to contact the renter, U-Haul has the right to file the report with the police as a stolen vehicle.
Once this happens, the police will begin to look for the u-haul and try to contact you with the information you gave U-Haul when renting. This is usually a simple process as the police have all of your information, and u-hauls are easy to spot.
If you are not able to drop off your u-haul rental on time for some reason, you should always contact U-Haul to let it know. Doing this will prevent the problem from spiraling into a stolen vehicle report.
U-Haul even offers a grace period that you may be able to take advantage of. If not, it only costs $20 to $40 per late day, depending on what you are renting. These added fees will be added to your original bill.
It is always best simply to call U-Haul to let it know why you are running late, especially if you are going to be late by a few days. You do not want to run the risk of U-Haul reporting the incident to the police.
If you let U-Haul know what is going on, the worst that will happen is you are charged extra fees. That is much better than being charged with theft and other serious criminal charges later on.