parking spaces taken away

[cantheydothis?]

What is the name of your state? California

My mother has lived in a new condominium complex for over a year (Nov. '06). When she purchased the unit, she worked out with the sales office to have two adjacent parking spaces closest to the elevator nearest to her unit assigned to her instead of the two farther away tandem spaces that were designated for her unit (two parking spaces are included with each purchase).

These two adjacent spots were reserved for her Exclusive Use Right. She has parked there since she moved-in in Nov. 2006; there are numerous witnesses to this; the sales associate acknowledges the assignment of these spots and switching of the ones that came with her unit; and parking decals have been given to her for these spots. The building is almost 2-years-old, and she was one of the first occupants.

Now, the unit next door to her has closed escrow and the sales office is stating that the parking slots assigned to my mother (the adjacent slots she switched for with her purchase) instead belong to the unit that just closed escrow, and that my mother needs to move to the farther away, tandem slots that were originally assigned to her unit before the agreed upon transfer.

The sales office says they forgot to record the transfer of the parking slots to my mother, and that there is nothing that they can do about it now as the people who just closed escrow are expecting those spots even though my mother has documentation, established use and decals for them. They are threatening to tow my mother's car at her expense; the owners of the unit that just closed are threatening lawsuits.

It seems that if my mother has documentation, witnesses, and established use -- and that the sales office admits they did not note the change on the master documents -- that this should be an open-and-shut case -- that they made a mistake and need to fix it.

But they are playing hardball. The CC&Rs state that the parking spaces are "reserved as entered on the books of the Association as Exclusive Use Right for the benefit of the owner of the condominium to which that parking space is assigned, for use solely as a vehicle parking space." We have witnesses and documentation that the spaces are my mother's but the sales office did not note the change in the books. (Since the complex is so new, the sales office is still in charge of the books.)

Can they do this? We'd really like to be able to point to some statute or something cut-and-dry without legal fees, etc.-- is there some "established use" doctrine?

Thank you.What is the name of your state?

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by cantheydothis?

We'd really like to be able to point to some statute or something cut-and-dry without legal fees, etc.-- is there some "established use" doctrine?

No. At best,mom is entitled to the difference in value between the "old" spaces and the "new" ones. But she can't dispossess the next door neighbor if the titles to the spaces was never properly changed.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by cantheydothis?

What is the name of your state? California

My mother has lived in a new condominium complex for over a year (Nov. '06). When she purchased the unit, she worked out with the sales office to have two adjacent parking spaces closest to the elevator nearest to her unit assigned to her instead of the two farther away tandem spaces that were designated for her unit (two parking spaces are included with each purchase).

These two adjacent spots were reserved for her Exclusive Use Right. She has parked there since she moved-in in Nov. 2006; there are numerous witnesses to this; the sales associate acknowledges the assignment of these spots and switching of the ones that came with her unit; and parking decals have been given to her for these spots. The building is almost 2-years-old, and she was one of the first occupants.

Now, the unit next door to her has closed escrow and the sales office is stating that the parking slots assigned to my mother (the adjacent slots she switched for with her purchase) instead belong to the unit that just closed escrow, and that my mother needs to move to the farther away, tandem slots that were originally assigned to her unit before the agreed upon transfer.

The sales office says they forgot to record the transfer of the parking slots to my mother, and that there is nothing that they can do about it now as the people who just closed escrow are expecting those spots even though my mother has documentation, established use and decals for them. They are threatening to tow my mother's car at her expense; the owners of the unit that just closed are threatening lawsuits.

It seems that if my mother has documentation, witnesses, and established use -- and that the sales office admits they did not note the change on the master documents -- that this should be an open-and-shut case -- that they made a mistake and need to fix it.

But they are playing hardball. The CC&Rs state that the parking spaces are "reserved as entered on the books of the Association as Exclusive Use Right for the benefit of the owner of the condominium to which that parking space is assigned, for use solely as a vehicle parking space." We have witnesses and documentation that the spaces are my mother's but the sales office did not note the change in the books. (Since the complex is so new, the sales office is still in charge of the books.)

Can they do this? We'd really like to be able to point to some statute or something cut-and-dry without legal fees, etc.-- is there some "established use" doctrine?

Thank you.What is the name of your state?

**A: demand a legal opinion from the HOA attorney.

[cantheydothis?]

Thanks to both of you. We will probably end up retaining a lawyer as the sales office is just giving us the royal runaround and brush-off. They are the ones who were supposed to have recorded the transfer (it is noted on my mother's paperwork), and the HOA says they have nothing to do with it since it was part of a sales issue. The sales person who sold my mother the place admits her manager forgot to make the necessary changes on the master parking map, but her manager is conveniently never around when we try to get hold of her. I had just wondered if there was anything we could point to short of having to retain a lawyer, such as some "established prior use" statute. It is just mindboggling to me that if my mother's paperwork notes such a change, and the sales office didn't hold up their responsibility to record it, that they can come back and say basically "tough luck" and that the spaces now go to someone else (and unfortunately the new unit is next door to my mother... and she is older, not in great health, and my dad recently passed away, so this is causing her quite a bit of stress). The health issue also plays into it because the spaces my mother switched for during her sales negotiation (and should still have) are close to the elevator closest to her unit; the ones that were originally assigned to her unit are much farther away and tandem spaces. So, I may also file a complaint with the Dept. of Fair Housing....

[cantheydothis?]

I just read the other post about "parking problems" -- maybe this is a California thing...