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We live in a medium to large sized rental property (educated guess is ~100 units), which is run by a manager and leasing agent working for a property management company.
My lease has a written list of reasons a car could be towed (none of which we violated) and under a section labeled "Community Policies Or Rules" it prescribes "We may make reasonable changes to written rules, effective immediately, if they are distributed and applicable to all units in the apartment community and do not change dollar amounts."
After we moved in there was a notice to get parking passes, which we did, but I can't find a written notice that explains guest parking or new reasons a car could be towed (by the way these are large private parking lots, with signs that do not conform to 67 PA Code 212.115).
On November 29th 2014, my mother in laws car was towed and she had to pay $200 to get it back. Although we have a written notice that was posted and distributed that reads "Falls village security team will be at the front entrance stopping every vehicle that comes in, to prevent outsiders that do not belong here from coming onto the property," we have never seen any car stopped while entering the property, moreover my mother in law saw a security guard who said nothing, posted a warning on her car almost immediately after she left it and had it towed in just over 15 minutes (warning sticker reads 7:50 pm, towing receipt reads 8:06 pm).
I inquired at the office several times about what written notice was made about the towing policy, and they refuse to provide me with anything other then an internal email (leasing agent to old property manager). They keep it just above rude, but its tough when they act like I am out of line for asking for a document, which by its nature must be made public to residents, from an office during business hours.
To add insult to injury, on December 8th 2014, a notice was distributed which reads "The towing policy will remain the same. Any vehicles parked without a Property Name sticker or a guest pass will be subject to getting (sic) towed at the vehicle owner's expense. The towing hours are from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am 7 days a week" - remember my mother in law was towed, by the tow truck operators notes, at 8:06 pm.
It sounds like they towed your mom's car because she didn't have the proper pass. Get the proper pass and have her use it and she shouldn't get towed again.
It sounds like your mother in law knew she was in violation of the rules when she parked. Follow the rules and you will have no problems. Get guest passes and have them available for guests and there is no problem.
If the management office won't negotiate reasonably with you then your only option is for the MIL to sue in small claims court, with your help regarding the lack of notices. Not sure its worth it for $200, but I don't see how they can expect anyone to abide by the rules if the rules are not clearly communicated to everyone.
It sounds like your mother in law knew she was in violation of the rules when she parked. Follow the rules and you will have no problems. Get guest passes and have them available for guests and there is no problem.
Thank you to everyone who has commented, it is helpful and interesting to me.
Ironically I have no idea if I can get guest passes in advance or if we have to know a specific guest is coming during office business hours, that is the level of written communication with the office, and verbal communication, besides being inefficient, often yields inconsistent answers.
The towing was a huge surprise, and the negative feelings are worth easily as much as the $200 ($200 after taxes being a work day for one of us). Like I said the signs are not up to code (provisions for visibility), and the management office can't even find a written copy of the notice that was distributed. The leasing agent kept saying she emailed it to "everyone", so I gave her my name and unit # and asked her to resend the email, still waiting (and checking spam folder too) because she doesn't have my email.
The biggest reason I am hesitant to call their corporate office or do small claims is fear of kicking a metaphorical bee's nest, at, the place I call home.
I was honestly hoping they would give me a written notice that showed they had warned me, that I did indeed miss the notice that was distributed and *erk* available, and therefore this was my fault and I should have been able to as you say make my MIL aware "she was in violation of the rules when she parked" - very nasty surprise
Although we have a written notice that was posted and distributed that reads "Falls village security team will be at the front entrance stopping every vehicle that comes in, to prevent outsiders that do not belong here from coming onto the property," .....
Personally, I think this was sufficient written warning. If my apartment complex said that they were using security guards to keep non-residents from coming onto the property, I would have known that a guest of mine was gambling by coming onto the property and parking.
I definitely would have called the office immediately and asked what to do about guests.
I'm trying to imagine how you would present this to a judge. And what a judge would be thinking.
Your points would be:
1) The office didn't give us a notice that specifically said someone who didn't live on the property would have their car towed if they came onto the property and parked.
The judge would say, "Why would you think someone could come onto the property who didn't live there and park, if the office sent out a written notice that basically said no one will be allowed onto the property who doesn't live there?"
You'd say, but they saw her and let her through the gate, so they waived their own rule.
You might have a point here, but I wouldn't be so sure that one guard who doesn't follow orders makes the rule unenforceable.
2) You say the signs aren't big enough.
The judge says, but you know the rules, so what do you care about how big the signs are? The size of the signs has nothing to do with your argument that the office didn't notify you.
3) You say your MIL did not have notice, and the guard let her through, so she shouldn't have to pay the fine, because she doesn't know the rules, and the signs that say she will be towed are too small (what do the signs say, BTW?).
The judge says, well, you should be in control of your guests, and so you should have immediately told your MIL she can't park on the property, and why don't you pay your MIL's fine, then?
I don't know. I just don't see you winning this one. I like to imagine what each side in a courtroom would say, what their arguments might be. The judge might agree that the MIL didn't have notice, and so she shouldn't be fined. But, I wouldn't bank on it.
Get several & meet your guest in the parking lot put the pass on the car where it Visible! Walk guests out pick up the pass put it in a handy place for the next guest Fairly simple. Even I can do that I cant walk far! BTW you also have the Option to Move!
As long and detailed as the post was, and in the scope of human injustice how minor this was, I think there were still details I didn't communicate, but basically everyone is more or less correct. If I assembled all the documents I have and went to court I think I could win until they magically produced the missing document at arbitration before the case went to the judge.
I will say it was a radical change in rules were there was no regulation and then an aggressive and sudden crack down, one of the the things the young leasing agent let slip was they changed the rule again (remember the last paragraph of the post where they said the rules would stay the same) because "so many residents were getting towed." I don't know what that means but it sounds bad and I think the manager and leasing agent are so low level they wouldn't want to pay anything to protect the corporate brand and they don't want to look bad in front of there bosses - and I still like CptRn's the best "how they can expect anyone to abide by the rules if the rules are not clearly communicated to everyone"
There are several reasons we may consider moving at the appropriate time before the lease terminates and we have to put our intentions in writing, I don't think the incident was a deal breaker, but I've already started drafting a bad review which includes the incident that I will probably post on every review site I can find if we move soon or there are any more incidents where we get hurt because they don't do there jobs or try to squeeze us for money.
BTW the company has a bad reputation in the area, but they bought the complex and our lease when we already lived there, and getting out of the lease when they did was another case we probably could have won but the details are so subtle and the cost benefit is so weak * index & middle finger to head with thumb up, and drop thumb like a gun hammer *.
BTW I am new to the site, but it was interesting to find people who were willing to discuss things with me, and of course the second thing I did on the site was check the reviews for good neighborhoods in Philly, if we do move.
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