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Florida - HOA Towing Illegaly? Home Owner Rights.

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Sunbunny83

New member
Hi - I live in Pinellas County Florida and own a 3 Bedroom Townhome that I’ve lived in for the last 10 years.

The community was built with not enough parking. For example, though I have a 3 bedroom home, I’m only allocated 1 parking spot. There are no driveways, it is “apartment style” parking with guest spots.

The board implemented a policy a few years ago that all residents must have a parking decal and all guests must use a parking pass after midnight. We are only allowed to have one guest pass... which I find unreasonable and if someone wants to stay longer than 3 days, I have to visit the property management company for an extended pass.

That being said, I’ve put up with this. Until now.

What I can’t believe is that they regularly have the towing companies prowling the neighborhood on a daily basis and tow based on the decals/guest passes, not because of resident complaints. I have no doubt that the guys literally have to get out of their trucks with flashlights to check the decals and guest passes.

Recently, I had my sister park in my assigned parking spot with the guest parking pass visibly displayed on the dashboard. We were gone for two days on vacation (Friday and Saturday) and came home early bc my Uncle passed away unexpectedly. To my dismay, my sisters car was towed.

Come to find out, the Board decided to implement a new guest parking policy and made new guest passes (that expire evey three months) and they allegedly hand delivered them to each resident in March. I never received one and was never notified of the change. My sister’s car was towed bc we used the old one Pass (obviously bc I wasn’t aware there was a new one).

I contacted the property manager, who very quickly accused me of lying that I had never received it (she is extremely unprofessional). I travel often for work... Usually for weeks at a time and most likely was not home when they came by to bring the new pass. I explained this to the property manager and she told me that a board member left it at my doorstep and that was enough confirmation. I asked for proof and of course wasn’t offered any.

We have a community board in the neighborhood and this change was never posted. Furthermore, I received a notice on my door that we have a new towing company, but again, no mention of the new guest pass and expiration dates.

I feel helpless in this situation and now it’s not even about the $200 wasted on a tow that should never have happened.... it’s the principle that I should have been notified and absolutely was not. I have no access to my board, the Property manager is the liaison. I do not believe the guest pass was left at my door and the board could have done a much better job to ensure that everyone received notice of the changes. Last time we received guest passes, they posted notes on our doors and we had to pick them up on designated dates and times and sign for them.

What are my rights in this situation? The property manager is an unprofessional “gatekeeper” with no follow up, proof or detail and quite frankly, extremely rude. I plan to attend the next board meeting and want to be prepared. Any details on how to handle this situation would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Frankly, since it's not about the $200, you should pay the $200 and consider yourself to now be on notice.
When you go to the board meeting, calmly and rationally explain the situation and ask that a better notification procedure be implemented. My first thought is a mass-emailing. Make sure that you complete your presentation in the time allotted.
 

xylene

Senior Member
You should put your home on the market (which is great right now) and move to a home which meets or exceeds your parking needs.

You probably should have considered before purchasing this home because in any situation having less than 1 parking spot per bedroom is basically absurd on its face in all but the most urbanized area where one could expect a large % of residents and visitors to be exclusively using public transportation.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Frankly, since it's not about the $200, you should pay the $200 and consider yourself to now be on notice.
When you go to the board meeting, calmly and rationally explain the situation and ask that a better notification procedure be implemented. My first thought is a mass-emailing. Make sure that you complete your presentation in the time allotted.
In addition to this, you can run for the board yourself in the next election and/or encourage other like minded owners to run for the board.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
I agree with the idea of moving , to start with you said it your self , you have a 3 bedroom home and one assigned spot. In theory something could happen where they notified you via notice at your door while you are out of town to not park in your regular spot and be towed because they followed a policy that suits them. As far as the lack of parking id lay odds you may well be able to find a home that has a two car garage which would give you a place to park that visitor vehicle and NO one can do squat about it.
 

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