Threxx

This was a good read and I'm interested to hear what happened.

I think the guy is very logically sound in his actions.

Yes technically he broke the rules by forgetting to display his tag, but they are very familiar with his car which is easy to pick out of a crowd and has been there for months.

So since he got screwed by a technicality, he wanted to get back at them with a technicality as well... by not breaking any rules but holding their boots hostage until they removed them for free. As an isolated case it sounds like he's being an ***, until you realize that he's only being an *** in response to them treating him poorly first.

The entire situation sounds very bad... that was a terrible decision on the part of the HOA to allow that company to basically make more $$ the more boots they passed out to people. I mean of course if that company is raking in more cash the more citations they hand out then they're going to be tempted to go overboard with it... and in this case they did. It's really not unlike what happens in a lot of small towns that get addicted to making the majority of the town's income on writing speeding tickets to unsuspecting out of towners. Except in this case it's worse because it's on private property, it's a private company (imagine if the entire US police force was a privately held company that stood to profit from writing infractions!), and also instead of just writing tickets, they're booting the cars, which is a serious safety issue in the case of an emergency and can present issues with maintaining employment all because you parked on the line.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, it can devalue the property, not like it's really good right now

If words spread quickly that hoa are major PITA, people won't buy in that community. Almost like any bad service dept. for car dealers

Faymester

well, i'm amused

good on him for making a point tho ... that's one of those things where most people often say 'some one should stand up to / do something about ____' but no one ever does

ES350Bob

This booting of cars was out of control in my area and not just HOA, it was also public areas in and around downtown.

The City Council just fixed it by enacting new code that makes the cost equal to ...drum roll please....that you would have to pay for any general parking ticket handled by police..

Here the boot was 100 bucks to get rid of. Now it is 35. And if you show up while person is at your car it's 17 bucks. And they must give you 20 minutes to go to and from an ATM.

Approach your town council or county council/commission and ask they enact same.

YotaCarFan

So true! Booting or towing someone's car for a parking infraction, whether in a housing development or a shopping center, is an excessive punishment, considering it strands people. It's odd that a private individual can legally prevent the use of or confiscate someone's private property (car). It's not like they own it.

This thread is really interesting. I'm eager to see what happens next!

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I live in a development where the HOA has very little clout except if you don't pay a bill, then a property gets a lien (eventually).

So because the HOA has no clout, people get away with stuff that bugs me, violating deed restrictions all over the place.

I've been on the board for a couple of years (this year I got suckered into doing the thankless job of treasurer) but this month they re-elect the board and I'm done. Now I can just be one of those residents that writes letters to the board about violations.

LexFather

People can really come together at times!

LexFather

owned!!............

LexFather

As far as the legalities of trash talk on the internet, APS pretty much has to suck it up. Tucker Max's forum was sued not too long ago and the case was dismissed because it was a PUBLIC forum.
And here's the precedent:

Milkovich V. Lorain Journal Co. 497 U.S. 1, 20 (1990)
"The Bressler-Letters-Falwell line of cases provides protection for statements that cannot 'reasonably [be] interpreted as stating actual facts' about an individual."
(Quoting Hustler Magazine V. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, 50 (1988))

So slam away, my newfound friends. APS deserves the badmouthing.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

If I were this guy, I would actually file a suite against APS to either withdraw the unpaid parking fine on file, or get the matter settled. Like his friend on the HOA said, they can use that unpaid fines on file against him to make has parking a PITA. They will never send him a bill for it because they don't want him to pay, so he will either have to just pay it, or take them to court and officially challenge it to resolve the unpaid fine. If he looses in court he'll pay the fine and it will be removed from file and they can't hold it against him. If he wins, it will be removed from file and they can't hold it against him. Either way, he needs to get that unpaid fees on file officially removed as that will be their end around for them getting payback on him.

This is why I will never live in a HOA type housing. I've never seen it this bad, but I would be wasting my money on HOA fees and fines and other maintenance fees.

squeakerz

heres to you.
/>

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

I've got a couple condos that had a really messed up HOA. I actually lived in one for a while and had to deal with their parking crap.

They assigned 2 passes to be displayed in car windows.

The passes were assigned to the condo unit..not the cars or plates. Their issue with me is that I would switch cars (I had 5 or 6 ) and just move the pass into whatever car I was driving at the time.

Id always get fines or even had a towtruck try to ****** up one of my cars that had a parking pass and parked in my assigned spot. Finally got pissed and started talking to them thru my attorney

I will never buy another condo or home in an association.

chiks

Good read. Boy u sure have the guts and patience to go through this.

Good Job.

superchan7

This is pretty epic. I think it's truly epic in a sea of "epic" stories.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

This is one of the most epics threads of all time!

I'll never buy a house or condo with an HOA. My parents live in a neighborhood with one and it drives me crazy! They always complain about my music or having too many cars in the driveway. It's so stupid.