Condo parking tickets

[tar82]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I would like to know the right someone has (non-government) to issue parking tickets. Recently I moved into a condo and after about a month I received a letter in the mail stating I owe $350 in parking tickets because I was parking in the visitor parking section (nothing is posted)! I can understand if they were just giving me tickets however they also had tickets on the paper that cited my girlfriend who doesn't even live there. The most she stays over each week is 2 nights in a row. Since then I haven't parked in the lot however I have parked for around 1 hour to unload stuff from my car and what do you know, yesterday I got another letter that says I owe and additional $300 in fines!


Are these tickets legal? Do I really need to pay this ridiculous amount of money? It really looks to me like they are running a scam... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by tar82

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I would like to know the right someone has (non-government) to issue parking tickets. Recently I moved into a condo and after about a month I received a letter in the mail stating I owe $350 in parking tickets because I was parking in the visitor parking section (nothing is posted)! I can understand if they were just giving me tickets however they also had tickets on the paper that cited my girlfriend who doesn't even live there. The most she stays over each week is 2 nights in a row. Since then I haven't parked in the lot however I have parked for around 1 hour to unload stuff from my car and what do you know, yesterday I got another letter that says I owe and additional $300 in fines!


Are these tickets legal? Do I really need to pay this ridiculous amount of money? It really looks to me like they are running a scam... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Do you own or rent your condo?

[HighwayMan]

Owning or renting probably doesn't make a difference.

Condos/Co-ops can make their own rules that are in effect on their own property. What you received aren't "parking tickets" per se, but some type of condo violation.

They probably are not adjudicated by the local municipality, and you may not even be able to get a hearing or adjudication of any sort.

Failure to pay will not result in any license or registration action, the unpaid tickets will be treated like any outstanding civil debt, i.e. they'll send you a bunch of nasty letters then send it to a collection agency.

[Stevef]

Originally Posted by HighwayMan

the unpaid tickets will be treated like any outstanding civil debt, i.e. they'll send you a bunch of nasty letters then send it to a collection agency.

Eventually, the association could foreclose on the condo for unpaid fees.

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by HighwayMan

Owning or renting probably doesn't make a difference.

Condos/Co-ops can make their own rules that are in effect on their own property. What you received aren't "parking tickets" per se, but some type of condo violation.

They probably are not adjudicated by the local municipality, and you may not even be able to get a hearing or adjudication of any sort.

Failure to pay will not result in any license or registration action, the unpaid tickets will be treated like any outstanding civil debt, i.e. they'll send you a bunch of nasty letters then send it to a collection agency.

If the OP is a renter and did not get a copy of the CC&Rs from the owner, it may be an issue. How else is the renter supposed to know the rules. There CC&Rs would be a disclosure as to the association's authority to issue the tickets ~ that would directly answer the OP's first question.