In a quiet neighborhood of small family homes just south of Tulsa International Airport, neighbors tell us they often see cars, trucks and vans with for sale signs on the front lawn, in the driveway and along the curb of 7876 E Marshall Street North.
It's been going on for quite a while, according to Scott Sickler, "Over two years."
Sickler contacted the Problem Solvers when he felt his complaint about what appeared to be a used car lot on a residential front lawn was not getting attention from Tulsa's Code Enforcement office.
"I waited to see if anything would happen or if anything would change down where the house is located, and it never did," he said.
A check of Tulsa's Code Enforcement website shows it received complaints in 2023 and 2024 about a used car lot operating on a property zoned as residential on East Marshall Street North.
As the Problem Solvers drove up to the house the morning of July 31, Jose Cante was moving cars off the property.
We asked if he was selling cars. Cante said, "Oh no, I'm a mechanic." He claims he sometimes brings cars home to work on them.
When we arrived on the morning of July 31, one vehicle had a for-sale sign on it. However, a photo taken by neighbors late in the afternoon of July 30 shows several of the same cars on the lawn with price tags.
Brant Pitchford with Tulsa's Code Enforcement Office sent us an email saying:
Case was posted on 5/23/23 for running a business out of a residentially zoned property. The compliance date was 6/7/23. 6/7/23 the inspection notes show that there were no violations present.
This happens a lot with zoning type issues. We post a notice, and they comply with the notice. If the violations return after our last inspection, we must rely on the neighbors to report that case again.
Unfortunately, this is can be a daunting cycle, but now that we have a repeated violation of the same nature we will not close the case immediately, we will monitor for a short period of time after the compliance date with one or two more inspections to ensure the violations doesn’t start back up.
This cycle can sometimes take a few cycles for owner or landlord to understand that we are not going to stop responding to complaints.
We also checked with the Oklahoma Used Motor Vehicle, Dismantler, and Manufactured Housing Commission.
We are aware of the situation and I’m not at liberty to discuss any information about the case at this time.
As far as dealer requirements, if an individual purchases a vehicle with the intent to make a profit they are operating as a dealer and would need to be licensed with the “Oklahoma Used Motor Vehicle Dismantlers and Manufactured Housing Commission”, and all licensing requirements would have to be met prior to license approval, all of our dealers must comply with all local zoning laws.
Thanks, Doug Tessier – Investigator, OUMVDMHC
By mid-afternoon July 31, when we drove by again, all the cars were gone.
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