ParkingPass authorizes vehicles four different ways, depending on who the vehicle belongs to and how long they need to park. Choosing the right one keeps your community organized, makes enforcement consistent, and prevents accidental tows of vehicles that should be there.
This article walks through each of the four types, then provides a decision guide and a list of common scenarios.
The Four Vehicle Authorization Types
At a glance:
Resident Permits — Long-term authorization for the personal vehicles of your residents.
Guest Passes — Short-term authorization for vehicles a resident is hosting. Residents register their own rental cars here too.
Do-Not-Tow (DNT) — Employees — Time-bound authorization for property employees who park on-site.
Do-Not-Tow (DNT) — Third Parties — Time-bound authorization for ongoing third-party vehicles that need to be on the property: regular vendors, contractors, and service providers.
If a vehicle doesn't fit any of these four categories, it probably shouldn't be parking at your property — that's the design.
Resident Permits
Who they're for
The personal vehicles of your residents and their household members (spouses, adult children, roommates). Resident permits are the backbone of the parking program — they're how the system knows whether a vehicle "belongs" at your community.
How they work
Residents register their own vehicles through their resident account. Property managers can also add or edit vehicles on a resident's behalf.
Each resident permit is tied to a specific resident and a specific vehicle (year, make, model, color, license plate, VIN).
Vehicle changes (replacing a car, updating a plate) come through the Vehicle Change Requests queue on your dashboard for approval.
Lifecycle
Resident permits remain active as long as the resident is active at the property. When a resident's lease ends — through expiration, move-out, or Future Move-Out — their permits become inactive and the vehicles are no longer authorized.
Common questions
Can a resident have more than one vehicle? Yes, up to your property's configured limit.
What if a resident's vehicle changes? Use the Vehicle Change Requests workflow rather than deleting and re-adding.
What if a resident is temporarily driving a different car? See the Guest Passes section below — short-term vehicles, including rentals, go through guest passes.
See Adding Additional Resident Vehicles and Vehicle Change Requests for the full workflows.
Guest Passes
Who they're for
Vehicles a resident is hosting — friends, family, visitors. Resident rental cars also go here. If a resident's regular vehicle is in the shop and they're driving an Enterprise loaner, that loaner needs a guest pass, not a resident permit.
How they work
Residents create guest passes for their visitors through their resident account. Property managers can also create guest passes on behalf of residents.
Guest passes are time-limited. The exact duration is set by your property's Guest Parking configuration.
Each pass is tied to a specific vehicle (plate, year, make, model) and a specific resident host.
The rental car case
This is the case PMs miss most often. When a resident calls and says "my car is in the shop and I'm driving a rental — don't tow it," the right answer is:
Have the resident create a guest pass for the rental car (host: themselves, vehicle: the rental).
The pass should cover the period they expect to be driving the rental.
When they get their own car back, the rental pass expires naturally; no further action needed.
This keeps the rental visible to patrol and tied to a specific resident, which protects them from accidental enforcement.
Common questions
How many guest passes can a resident have at once? Set by your property's guest parking configuration.
What about Uber/Lyft/DoorDash drivers? Rideshare and short delivery stops are usually below the time threshold where a guest pass is needed. If your property has rideshare-specific issues, raise it in your patrol vendor review or your parking policy.
What about an out-of-town family member staying for a month? A guest pass for the duration. If guest stays consistently exceed your property's allowed pass length, that may need a policy conversation rather than an exception.
See Creating a Guest Pass for a Resident for the workflow.
Do-Not-Tow (DNT) — Employees
Who they're for
People who work for the property and need to park on-site: maintenance staff, office staff, leasing agents, on-site managers. These aren't residents, but they're regulars and need authorization for as long as they're employed.
How they work
The vehicle is added to the property's Do-Not-Tow list as an employee entry.
You set an expiration date when adding the entry. The vehicle is authorized through that date, after which the entry expires and the vehicle is treated like any other unauthorized vehicle.
The system does not send a reminder before a DNT entry expires. Tracking expirations is on you — see the review guidance below.
You can extend an entry before it expires (when an employee's contract renews, for example) or let it expire if the person is no longer with the property.
Choosing the right expiration date
A useful rule of thumb:
Permanent staff — set the expiration far enough out that you don't have to babysit it, but close enough that it forces a periodic review. Six to twelve months is reasonable for most properties.
Seasonal or contract employees — set the expiration to the known end date of their contract.
New hires on probation — a shorter expiration that aligns with the end of their probationary period.
When to use this vs. a resident permit
Even if an employee also happens to live at the property, the two are tracked separately:
Their personal vehicle as a resident → resident permit.
Their work vehicle or a vehicle they only drive while on shift → DNT employee.
Most often this distinction doesn't come up because employees use the same vehicle for both — in that case, a resident permit is fine and you don't need a separate DNT entry.
Common questions
What about a new hire on day one? Add them to DNT employees immediately so they're not towed during onboarding.
What if an employee leaves before their DNT expires? Remove the entry manually. Don't rely on the future expiration to clean it up — that creates a window where a former employee's vehicle is still authorized.
What if I forget to extend an entry and it expires while someone is still employed? Their vehicle is treated as unauthorized starting at the expiration. Re-add or renew the entry as soon as you notice — and consider building a recurring calendar reminder so it doesn't happen again.
See Managing the Do-Not-Tow List for the workflow.
Do-Not-Tow (DNT) — Third Parties
Who they're for
Vehicles that aren't owned by residents or employees but need ongoing authorization to be at the property. The classic examples:
Landscape company that comes weekly.
Pool service vendor.
HVAC contractor with a maintenance contract.
Pest control on a regular schedule.
USPS, UPS, or FedEx vehicles that park regularly to deliver.
Recurring deliveries — laundry service, grocery delivery for the building, etc.
How they work
Third-party DNT entries work the same as employee DNT entries — added to the list with an expiration date that you set, valid through that date, then expired. The system does not send a reminder before a third-party entry expires either.
The distinction between "employee" and "third party" is mostly organizational so that, when you're cleaning up the DNT list, you can quickly see which vehicles are your own staff versus outside parties.
Choosing the right expiration date
Vendors on a defined contract — match the expiration to the contract end date. When the contract renews, extend the DNT entry.
Open-ended vendor relationships (USPS, regular deliveries) — set the expiration far enough out that it doesn't require constant renewal, but close enough that it forces a periodic check that the vendor relationship is still active.
Defined project work (a renovation, a one-month repair) — match the expiration to the project end date.
When to use this vs. a guest pass
This is the most common point of confusion. A useful rule of thumb:
Recurring or contract-based → Third-party DNT.
One-time or short-duration → Guest pass (created by whichever resident or staff member is responsible for them).
So the landscape company that comes every Wednesday is third-party DNT. The plumber who is on-site for one job is a guest pass.
Common questions
What about a real estate agent showing units? Usually short enough to handle with a guest pass.
What about a moving truck for a resident moving in? A guest pass from the resident is the simplest path.
What about a contractor doing a multi-week renovation? Third-party DNT with the expiration set to the project end date.
Decision Guide: Which Type Do I Use?
Work through these questions in order:
Is the vehicle's owner one of your residents?
→ Yes, and it's their long-term car: Resident Permit.
→ Yes, but it's a short-term/rental/loaner they're driving: Guest Pass (host: themselves).Is the vehicle's owner a guest of one of your residents?
→ Yes: Guest Pass (host: the resident).Is the vehicle owned by someone who works for the property?
→ Yes: DNT — Employees.Is the vehicle a third-party service or vendor who comes regularly?
→ Yes: DNT — Third Parties.Is the vehicle a one-time visitor — contractor, delivery, real estate agent?
→ Guest Pass from whichever resident or staff member is responsible for them.None of the above? The vehicle probably shouldn't be parking at your property. Standard enforcement applies.
Common Scenarios
"My resident's car is in the shop"
Guest pass, with the resident as both host and driver, covering the rental car or loaner for the period they'll be using it.
"We're hiring a new on-site maintenance tech"
DNT — Employees, added before their first shift. Set the expiration to a reasonable review cadence (e.g., one year out) and add a calendar reminder a couple weeks before the expiration to renew.
"The landscape company changed their truck"
Update the existing DNT — Third Parties entry with the new plate and vehicle details. Extend the expiration if needed.
"A resident's family is visiting for Thanksgiving week"
Guest pass from the resident, covering the visit dates.
"A real estate agent is showing units this Saturday"
Guest pass from the office or whichever staff member is coordinating the showing.
"A plumber is doing emergency work in 3 units this afternoon"
Guest pass from the office for the duration of the visit. Don't use third-party DNT for one-off jobs — it clutters the list.
"Our HVAC vendor signed a new annual maintenance contract"
DNT — Third Parties, with the expiration set to the contract end date.
"A former employee left three months ago and their car is still on DNT"
Remove from DNT — Employees immediately — don't wait for the existing expiration. If they're now a resident, add their vehicle through a resident permit instead.
"A resident's adult child is moving back home for the summer"
If their lease is updated to reflect the household change, the adult child's vehicle is a resident permit. If it's a short stay without a lease change, a guest pass covering the duration is fine.
Edge Cases and Things to Watch
One-off visitors don't need DNT. The DNT list is for vehicles that need extended authorization. Anything for a single day or a single job should be a guest pass.
Avoid putting personal vehicles on DNT to "skip the permit process." If the vehicle belongs to a resident, it should be a resident permit — that's how lease-tied permit enforcement works.
Don't rely on expirations to clean up after departures. If an employee or vendor leaves before their DNT expires, remove the entry manually. The existing expiration creates a window where the wrong vehicle is still authorized.
The system doesn't warn you before a DNT entry expires. A vehicle that was authorized yesterday can be towable today if nobody renewed the entry. Build a recurring calendar reminder — or do a quarterly DNT review — so expirations don't sneak up on you.
Guest passes are tied to a resident host. If a guest is visiting without a specific resident "owning" the visit, ask which resident is hosting them before issuing the pass.
Rideshare and short delivery stops are typically below the enforcement threshold and don't need a pass. If they're causing recurring issues, it's a policy or signage conversation rather than a per-vehicle exception.
Important Notes
The four-category system is exhaustive: every vehicle parking at your property should fit one of these or be subject to enforcement.
When in doubt, a guest pass is the safest default for short-term situations — it's time-bound, tied to a resident, and visible to patrol.
DNT entries are valid only through the expiration date you set, and the system doesn't notify you before they expire. Tracking renewals is on you. Set dates deliberately, and keep a recurring reminder to review the list.
If you're regularly running up against a permit-type question that this article doesn't answer, raise it through Provide Feedback — it usually means the documentation or product needs sharpening.