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I apologize for the long post but felt the background information would be helpful - I appreciate your comments very much.
We moved into an HOA-managed tower condominium four months ago. We are (leasing) tenants, not owners. We had a motorbike towed from the parking structure on the property last week and I am trying to sort out the possibility of acquiring reimbursement from the HOA or leasing office for the impound/towing charges.
I should be clear up front that we are respectful of the building, its policies and other residents and understand that there have to be rules to protect everyone. We were aware when moving into somewhere like this that HOAs are strict and that they have the power. When we were moving in, I asked about everything, even whether they would rather us haul grocery bags in the service elevator instead of the main ones where they are bringing potential buyers/ tenants through - asked permission to bring a slightly larger rental truck onto the property than we had originally requested - stuff like that. We have tried to do everything right and have always had a really great rapport with the HOA and leasing office. We were planning on staying here a long time and wanted things to continue smoothly - would never have tried to get away with doing anything that was out of line in the least.
Before moving in, we had asked personnel at the front desk and in the leasing office if it was ok for us to park our motorbike in the locations where we had seen numerous other bikes parked in the parking structure - such as the areas outside of the parking spaces but between the white lines, between poles or against walls in the structure. I believe I talked to someone in the HOA office as well because we had to tow the bike with a UHaul trailer up from LA and had to request permission to park in the secured receiving/holding area overnight - I am sure I would've double-checked again before taking it into the structure. We were told by numerous staff that "wherever you can find an open space like that" was ok for bikes. We found a large area, very wide, between a support pole and a wall and had been parking in that area for four months now with no indication from anyone that this was improper.
Although the bike was not in our assigned parking space, it was parked where we had been given permission to park - in an area that did not interfere with fire extinguishers, traffic flow, or other residents entering or exiting their vehicles. There were no signs of any type restricting parking. The HOA regulations and lease say nothing with respect to either permitting or not permitting this activity and last night there were six different bikes parked in similar locations throughout the structure.
The lease lists many different reasons for which vehicles can be towed but the only one that would fit our situation would be "not parked in designated areas" - but we had asked where to park before moving in and were told by so many people that these areas were ok. The operations manager and head of security said yesterday that there was recently a complaint from a resident about the bike and that was why it was towed. With respect to the complaint from the other resident, we understand that there could be concern about an abandoned vehicle on the property since it wasn't being ridden often but a quick look at the plate and verifying that it belonged to a resident, then contacting us to move it if they had decided it was now in an inappropriate location or was bothering another resident where they had to see it - we would've moved it into our parking space instantly with no complaints whatsoever.
The problem is that the bike was towed without any attempt to contact us through the information on file in the HOA office - information tying our car and bike Nevada plates to our unit and to us. The operations manager and the head of security said they had "asked everyone - valets, staff, housekeeping" who the bike belonged to - "but nobody knew" - so they tagged the bike with a 48-hour notice and were able to tow it because there was no response within that timeframe. Apparently tagging it is all they are required to do.
But, the bike is not ridden every day or even every week so we would not have seen a notice attached to the bike, even driving by. Indeed, it was towed on a Tuesday and we did not realize it was missing until Saturday morning because we don't go out into the parking structure every day. We seriously thought it had been stolen from this secured property and our first thought was to call LVMPD - never suspected it could've been towed by the HOA. At first were glad that it was impounded and not headed to somewhere unknown - then it turned to feeling many different emotions including confusion that it was towed with nobody even trying to contact us.
My question is, with a Nevada plate on file in the HOA office and tied by computer to the unit we are renting (and the ability for them to almost instantly pull up the unit number/vehicle owner by referencing the plate number), is it realistic for us to expect that the HOA would have called us and not just "tagged" the bike and then had it towed - if there was a problem with our parking location? It would be understandable for them to go around asking the valets if they knew whose bike it was if there was no license plate - or if the plates were for Nevada but we still had the California plate numbers on file in the HOA office - but I went down to the HOA office and gave them our new Nevada license plate numbers for our vehicles the day after we switched them (we had to give them the California plate numbers when we moved in). I also verified the next week that they had been changed in the system because I knew otherwise there was no way to tie the bike to us (since it wasn't in our space) if anything happened.
These towers are known for stellar customer service - we actually can't even open the door for ourselves or push our own elevator buttons most of the time, they are so on top of things to try to make it nice for the residents. Always greetings - goodbyes when we leave to go out, welcoming back when we come back in, but this tow situation has stunned us completely because it came from nowhere after this long. It took half of Saturday and cost $416 to sort out the situation and retrieve the bike. I can see there totally being a problem if there was no license plate so no way to tie our unit/us to the bike. Even if we had just done what the other bikes were doing without asking first - or were in a blue accessible space or someone else's space - or blocking traffic - it would definitely make sense. But, having asked and been given permission and then being in and out of the same spot for four months with no problems mentioned - and then it being towed with no attempt to contact us except with a tag /notice placed on the bike - this lack of effort about the tow is so contrary to the image they are trying to create.
We were actually told by the operations manager and the head of security that "they could not go through the license plates of all of their residents, there are so many vehicles and there was no way for us to tell who it belonged to" - yet one of the front desk agents pulled it up right in front of us in about fifteen seconds while we watched yesterday morning - which adds to the situation because now we feel that management and security would be less than truthful about any other issues in our future here and we still have nine months on our lease. We get emails every time we get a package at the front desk - yet no phone call when a vehicle is in danger of being towed and impounded? It's like the minimum necessary was done by tagging it and then they acted with no consideration given to the impact it would have on us. It makes it so much worse that the bike was towed in the middle of the day while both of us were right upstairs working from home - without even an attempt to contact us through the license plate that was on file.
This tow situation really does reflect badly on their process especially given the current occupancy level and the level of customer service that they have conditioned their residents to expect. Such mixed emotions because we feel like it's a privilege to live here, yet are paying for a level of service that would've been so easy to provide if just a few extra seconds had been taken. . . and then to have the lies from different people about there being no way for them to have tied the license plate on the bike to us and our unit. I would rather them have said all they have to do is put on the 48-hour tag and that is their policy - rather than their repeated untruth that it's not possible for them to have found and contacted us.
Realistically, these towers have many, many empty units for sale and for rent. It's no secret that they are nowhere close to capacity - the parking structure also tells the tale. I imagine they are operating at a loss and can use all of the positive words and cooperative, reliable tenants (willing to pay their extreme prices) that they can get. This isn't something I'd say to them, just is interesting to consider when thinking of any leverage we might have. The leasing/sales agent with whom we spoke yesterday was very sweet and sorry about the situation and said to keep our receipts for the impound/tow, that she hated it when she found out it was our bike that had been towed and understood how we felt. We realize the HOA can do whatever it wants and might say what's done is done, yet the operations manager did say that the executive manager would be the one who could authorize a reimbursement (if anyone could).
We are planning to talk to the executive manager in the HOA office sometime tomorrow - we've not met her and wanted to approach her in person instead of on the phone. We've been clean, quiet, cooperative, pay the rent early, always asked permission for EVERYTHING and were given the ok to park where we did. What will be will be - but in the future, how would we as new residents to a property know who can and cannot give information that is accurate because there really was no waffling at all about the parking location by any of them - it seemed to be very clear-cut that it was ok to park in that type of location in the structure. And, does anyone think, given the situation, we have a shot at explaining nicely and respectfully and either getting the charges reimbursed from the HOA or taken off of the rent from the leasing/sales office?
does anyone think, given the situation, we have a shot at explaining nicely and respectfully and either getting the charges reimbursed from the HOA or taken off of the rent from the leasing/sales office?
As you already know . . only the HOA can make that determination. Going to deny you the "pity party ego stroking" gratification, but would be interested in hearing how your HOA appeal turns out.
TL;DR - You parked your motorbike in an area you were told was an acceptable area by numerous staff of a high rise condo. They towed the vehicle with a 48 hour notice and you didn't notice because you don't use it often enough to check on it. Your impound fee was $416.
Have you tried asking for the costs of the impound fee, explaining that you were told by staff that you were allowed to park your vehicle there? If not, you're going to have to entertain legal recourse.
If you have anything in writing from them that says you are allowed to park there then you have a better chance in court(although HOA law suits might have to go through arbitration first). If the HOA sent a letter recently to all occupants saying that parking in such areas is no longer permitted, then you will have less of a leg to stand on. The more you can show that you followed all bylaws the better your chances.
Thanks for replies so far and for taking your time in wading through the information - I will learn to make shorter initial post next time. I imagine most of the 100+ people who clicked on the topic just closed it and went on to the next one. Because I wasn't concise, I lost the chance for feedback from people who might have had similar situations happen to them in the past and what happened after.
I was not looking for a pity party or comfort but rather for the perspective of people who are not so close to the situation - brutal honesty even. I was/am curious about how others would feel given our situation because being right in the middle of it it's hard to know what is a realistic or justified way to feel about it. We are also sorting out the best way to move on from here and what approach would give us the best chance to possibly retrieve the money we lost. We definitely don't want to just roll over on it, yet if the overwhelming opinion was that we were out of line and the HOA's actions were totally defendable then it would change our approach to them when we talk later today.
We know we were actually lucky we noticed the bike was gone when we did, though, because there is an additional $104 increase after the fourth day of storage and the storage fees alone continue to increase at $29.50/day - and the weekend after hours charge is $43.50/day. It had been four days already when we found out so it definitely could've been worse, still isn't fair because it could've been avoided if they had called us first.
No letters went out changing the parking arrangements - no sign prohibiting parking there and nothing in the written lease or bylaws - verbal agreement only from when we moved in. We will talk to HOA today to ask for the fees. Does it give more of a leg to stand on because they could have found us upstairs so easily but didn't try?
one question....DID you get the NAMES [dates n times] of the person that told you you could park there.....causeI got a a baaaaad feeling the their answer was "I din tol him not theeng."
When we moved in, we went with the understanding that personnel on the property, in uniform on duty, acting in their official positions (whether in the leasing / sales office or security or front desk) would have accurate information and could give an ok to park - how were we to know then that the HOA had to be asked. So, we do remember with whom we spoke, but not dates and times and nothing on paper.
We met with the executive manager and ops manager this afternoon - their stance was firm that we had parked illegally, they tagged the bike, gave us 48 hours and it wasn't moved - this is their policy only to tag, not to attempt to notify the owners with the license tag information they have on file tied to the units/residents. When we let them know we had been given permission and couldn't believe they towed us without even trying to contact us, the executive manager said she would talk to the leasing office about getting our fees back because they had been the primary source of the misinformation.
We assured them we never would have parked there without permission, if they had called us we would have moved the bike immediately but we did not see the notice because we don't ride the bike but every few weeks or even go into the parking structure every day. She said that was not their problem that we didn't see the tag, that they were following policy. We said they should consider changing the policy since they have a way to look up residents by license plates - if they want to care for their residents to the same standard as all the rest of it- mentioned that lots of residents travel and would not see a notice for weeks sometimes.
It just seemed like such an avoidable situation with the information and ability to contact everyone - unless they are getting kickbacks from the tow companies, you'd think they'd want to solve the problem and not inconvenience and anger their residents. It CAN'T be happening that often that they would have to call that many residents - the parking structure is so empty sometimes - just seems lazy. At any rate, we would gladly trade getting an email when a package arrives for a quick phone call if there was a problem with parking or anything else.
So, I think it went well and at least they know (for some reason this is important to me, perhaps because we have another nine months on our lease) that we had no idea it was a problem and would've never done it if we had known.
Now to see if she calls sales/leasing office and when. The leasing agent was the one who told us to hang onto the impound/towing receipt, errr, that might've been to get HOA to pay for it and not them. We will see what happens next, here's hoping. We have a solid relationship with leasing / sales office and I think the HOA office knows we are playing straight with them. Any advice about how to followup from here?
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