HOA towed my wife's car

[TheLongshot]

A couple of days ago, I get a call from my wife that her car is missing. She was worried that it was stolen, but I thought that was unlikely. What was more likely is that someone had it towed. So, I had her call the neighborhood towing company and find out if they have it. Sure enough they did.

So, I had to take off work to go down to Lorton to get it picked up. $125 later, I get the car back. I found out it was the HOA who had the car towed because the registration expired. Personally, I think it was way overkill to tow the car because the registration expired two weeks ago. Neither of us knew the car was going to expire, since I hadn't seen a notice from the DMV about the car. Possible I missed it in the mail somewhere.

Anyways, because of that, I needed to go to the DMV to get it renewed. That all took about half a day of my work day. I'm pretty pissed at all the wasted resources because the HOA couldn't have been bothered to give a warning to me about that. I mean, they give me warnings about almost everything else.

I E-mailed the management company to see what they say. They claim that it is in the bylaws that the HOA can tow cars with expired registrations. While I understand that they have the right to do it, I personally think it is a big time dick move to do that. All this accomplished over giving a simple warning is to piss me off.

So, what are my options to fight this thing?

[Maximus71]

My GF is on the HOA in our community, and it sucks dude. She has created so many enemies for doing her job its not even funny. I can tell you that you can not fight this, it is in their bylaws they can towe you for an expired registration, our HOA though has a rule among the members that they will try to find out which house the car belongs to and warn the resident first. I also hardly see anyone get towed being in the wrong parking spot, they do get a letter on their windshield that lets them know next time they will be towed.

[Skin'Em84]

Was it the Ponds? They suck...

[Larry Brown #43]

I don't know what your options are, but I do know that property management companies make a killing off of towing arrangements (AKA towing scams), and maybe HOAs are similar. It's a racket. I've seen many instances of apartment management companies and other property managers taking advantage of tenants and their friends and family by towing their cars for questionable reasons.

One time my wife and I visited a friend who had just moved into a new townhouse. She had a house warming party and invited about a dozen people over. Everyone thought they were parked legally (it seemed purposely unclear), but within a few hours, about half of the people at the party had already had their cars towed, with another car already up on the lift ready to be taken away. They're hawks, and they make a lot of money this way. They have an arrangement with a towing company, and they split the profits.

Maybe one option would be to discuss what happened with your neighbors, and maybe start a petition or something. I guess you could try to demand that the HOA compensate you for the money, but I don't know how far you'd get. But since you live there, you'd think they'd be interested in keeping you happy. The $125 they'd give you would probably go along way to improving the way you feel about where you live and the HOA there.

our HOA though has a rule among the members that they will try to find out which house the car belongs to and warn the resident first. I also hardly see anyone get towed being in the wrong parking spot, they do get a letter on their windshield that lets them know next time they will be towed.

This seems reasonable, but it seems most of them are more interested in cashing in on the profits than giving people warnings.

[Winning Season Please!]

Not much you can do, but they should have given you a warning. I wish my HOA would towe some damn cars that park where they shouldn't.

[TheDoyler23]

I don't know what your options are, but I do know that property management companies make a killing off of towing arrangements (AKA towing scams), and maybe HOAs are similar. It's a racket. I've seen many instances of apartment management companies and other property managers taking advantage of tenants and their friends and family by towing their cars for questionable reasons.

Yep. I missed Portis' debut TD run and the first snaps with Gibbs II because I was getting my car back from a shady tow company. They claimed that my BRIGHT YELLOW pass wasn't visible because it was blocked by my college parking pass. Both were separated and clearly visible. They even took a photo of the front of may car, showing the friggin pass.

Towing is probably the shadiest business around.

[Destino]

Show up to the next meeting and tell them your thoughts on the matter.

[TheDoyler23]

Show up to the next meeting and tell them your thoughts on the matter.

Those meetings are hilarious if you like awkward situations and crackpots!

[Larry]

Those meetings are hilarious if you like awkward situations and crackpots!

Yeah, I suspect they're probably funnier than traffic court.

[aszumilo]

Where was the car parked when it was towed? If it was in the driveway, look at trespassing charges against the towing company and HOA. While the charges may not hold up, due to how your HOA rules are, it could leave them scared and refund your money.

I did that when mine fined me for weeds in the yard that were not there. Seems their inspector went into my back yard and saw them. My rules state all inspections will take place from the curb and you could not see any weeds from the street. I threatened them with civil and criminal trespassing charges unless they dropped the fine. They folded like a bad poker hand.

[PokerPacker]

I'd like to think I'll never buy a house tied to a HOA

[DeanCollins]

well, you could always find an expired sticker, place on the hoa member's tag and call the towing company. :pfft:

[drums and skins]

I'd like to think I'll never buy a house tied to a HOA

QFT.

HOAs are the debil. I hope I'll be fortunate enough to never have to deal with one (or one that has an absolute stick up their ass like most of them have the reputation of being)

[PleaseBlitz]

You need to find ONE person at the HOA that has any semblance of decision making power and harrass the **** out of that one person. Email's every morning and afternoon. Snail mail. Phone calls. Don't skip weekends. Always be courteous and polite, but you can be nice and still be a huge pain in the ass.

But that's me. I usually view these things as a competition that I HAVE to win. Me versus that one person who wasn't anticipating my OCD being focused on him/her for weeks on end.

[zoony]

Ways to get back at them:

Tow HOA committee member car. Leave a note that says you didn't like the color.

Start mowing your lawn in a g-string.

go out at midnight and spell out an enormous **** You on the president's lawn with roundup

Flaming bag of poo + doorbell

[dfbovey]

Sounds like you won't have much recourse if it's in their bylaws.

I'd like to think I'll never buy a house tied to a HOA

You'd have to move to an older neighborhood or somewhere in the outskirts of civilization.

And you'd probably have 20 people living in the 3 bedroom house next to you, no garbage pick up, pool or snow removal. And people doing crazy **** to their houses to bring down your property value... like the family two doors down from my Grandfather in PG county who spray painted their house neon blue. And have old car parts lining their driveway.

HOAs can be tedious and annoying... but so can unchecked pig neighbors.

[PleaseBlitz]

Ways to get back at them:

Tow HOA committee member car. Leave a note that says you didn't like the color.

Start mowing your lawn in a g-string.

go out at midnight and spell out an enormous **** You on the president's lawn with roundup

Flaming bag of poo + doorbell

Burn a cross in their front yard.

When is the last time a cross got burned in a neighborhood with an HOA. :laugh:

[gimpy007]

I am on an HOA. We are a cool bunch and we don't nitpick the community.

Now for your options - From my understanding, if the car was parked in your driveway (private property), the HOA has no legal right to have it towed and you can sue them. But if it was parked on the side of the street, they can have it towed.

I would call an attorney if I were you.

[chipwhich]

I find the responses in this thread funny.

You didn't handle your business, so the HOA did it for you. I have lived in multiple communities with a HOA. Now I don't. That said....

If a policeman sees you driving on expired tags, they will write you a ticket.

I can assure you the MVA sent you a renewal notice. Handle your business.

Most HOA's pick up cars that have expired tags. Trust me, it's not about making money. They don't want some hooptie sitting in their neighborhood that isn't being driven. That's why they made the rule. And trust me, there are plenty of people that want to leave their car in the parking lot...an eyesore for neighbors. I know yours didn't fall in that category...but you didn't handle your business.

If you don't handle your business here is what happens.

You don't pay your mortgage, you get foreclosed on.

You don't pay your credit card bills, you get your credit dinged.

You don't pay your registration fee's you get tickets and towed.

It's not like you left your trash out a day early. You didn't pay your registration fees. Check your mail and open your mail. It's not a mystery how it happened.

I moved once and didn't change my address with MVA. My registration expired and I didn't know it, so I got pulled over and got a ticket. Whose fault was it? Mine.

It's all about personal responsibility.

[PokerPacker]

You know, I've never gotten a letter about expired registration/inspection/license. I found out about inspection because I was given a blank ticket while parked along the curb out of the country (because it was out of county, there was no fine). I found out about my expired license when I went to withdraw money from the bank and my ID was expired. I discovered my registration was expired when I was in the passenger seat of my car while my brother drove and the blue lights came on behind us. The cop had been following us for awhile, so I think he illegally ran my tags, 'cause there's no way he could read a little sticker in the pitch black while going 55 MPH. Anyways, my brother was let off the hook since it wasn't his fault and the cop didn't want him to suffer from it.

Anyways, I think the point I'm coming to, is why the hell have I never gotten anything in the mail?

[chipwhich]

Anyways, I think the point I'm coming to, is why the hell have I never gotten anything in the mail?

PokerP. The mail you when your stuff's expiring. Trust me.

I didn't get it is a weak excuse. They mail you. It's revenue for the state. It's not ignored.

Come on bro.

[TheLongshot]

I find the responses in this thread funny.

You didn't handle your business, so the HOA did it for you. I have lived in multiple communities with a HOA. Now I don't. That said....

If a policeman sees you driving on expired tags, they will write you a ticket.

I can assure you the MVA sent you a renewal notice. Handle your business.

To be honest, I would have preferred a ticket. Then I wouldn't have to take off work and go all over creation to take care of this.

BTW, how many people actually know when their tags expire? More often than not, it is when they get the notice in the mail.

Most HOA's pick up cars that have expired tags. Trust me, it's not about making money. They don't want some hooptie sitting in their neighborhood that isn't being driven. That's why they made the rule. And trust me, there are plenty of people that want to leave their car in the parking lot...an eyesore for neighbors. I know yours didn't fall in that category...but you didn't handle your business.

I'm sorry, but two weeks doesn't make it an abandoned car. In my eyes, the behavior is extreme for the violation.

If you don't handle your business here is what happens.

You don't pay your mortgage, you get foreclosed on.

You don't pay your credit card bills, you get your credit dinged.

You don't pay your registration fee's you get tickets and towed.

It's not like you left your trash out a day early. You didn't pay your registration fees. Check your mail and open your mail. It's not a mystery how it happened.

I moved once and didn't change my address with MVA. My registration expired and I didn't know it, so I got pulled over and got a ticket. Whose fault was it? Mine.

It's all about personal responsibility.

I did take full responsibility for my actions. My point is that the HOA's reaction was extreme. I get warnings for most violations, but this is an exception? Bull****.

[PokerPacker]

PokerP. The mail you when your stuff's expiring. Trust me.

I didn't get it is a weak excuse. They mail you. It's revenue for the state. It's not ignored.

Come on bro.

I've never gotten anything. I've just been lucky enough to find out in a harmless way, but I've never gotten anything in the mail. I know they're supposed to, but I just haven't ever gotten anything.

[chipwhich]

To be honest, I would have preferred a ticket. Then I wouldn't have to take off work and go all over creation to take care of this.

BTW, how many people actually know when their tags expire? More often than not, it is when they get the notice in the mail.

I know when my tags expired because my state mails me a notice. Yours does too.

Weak sauce. You got a notice in the mail and didn't handle your responsibility.

Don't blame others for not addressing your responsibility.

I hear what you are saying, but to claim no knowledge of your issue is silly.

[Fergasun]

I hate HOAs. Why do people put up with them? Just another tax and another group of power hungry people who want to act like they are god.