What do you do.... (apartment related)

[Kohan]

You know, the more I see you say things like "don't get me shot," the more I want you to be. Don't play out old jokes.

In all seriousness, and as was already mentioned, there should be towing signs in your parking lot. If there weren't any, talk to the management company and ask them who the authorized towing agency is for your parking lot. When they tell you, call that company, and tell them you've wanted to get some people towed for illegal parking, but they have no signs in the parking lot, so you couldn't call.

Most likely, they will put up signs. There's money in it for them. If one person did it to you, other people are probably doing it to other tenants, and I'm sure they want someone to call too.

[Kohan]

Is everybody missing the part about her lease when it said that only management can tow people?

No.

It is highly doubtful that the management company has their own towing company. They are likely in a contract with a single agency that does all of their towing at all of their properties. This company is an authorized agent, chosen by the management company. It's not a violation of the lease in any way.

EDIT: Just to go further into detail about this, the expense the management would incur by having a fleet of licensed vehicles, appropriately licensed drivers, the insurance required to run a towing service, and so on, so forth, would make it completely impractical. It's the same reason property management companies, usually (though there is greater chance of there being an exception to this than the towing matter), do not run their own landscaping companies, may have an in-house handyman but do not have a whole slew of specialized workers, and so on, so forth. So long as the company is an authorized agent, contracted by the management company, they are fully authorized to fill their respective roles.

[BardonGaruda]

No.

It is highly doubtful that the management company has their own towing company. They are likely in a contract with a single agency that does all of their towing at all of their properties. This company is an authorized agent, chosen by the management company. It's not a violation of the lease in any way.

I'm pretty sure that Derock meant that management are the only ones who should be calling the tow company to get people towed rather than they actually own their own towing company. That would fit in with there being no numbers for the towing company on the signs in the parking lot.

Ksandra,

Leave a polite note asking the person not to park in your spot again. Don't mention about towing them in the future. If they park there again just have them towed as they are obviously assholes if they ignored a polite note.

Call the management company once their office opens and ask them for an out of hours contact number for towing. It would be stupid for them not to have one as in most cases the need to have someone towed out of your spot would arise most outside of office hours. If they want to be the ones calling the tow company then they should be available to be contacted by you for that purpose 24/7.

[jmc]

Don't waste your time attempting to file a police report for illegal parking. It's a waste of your time and theirs and won't be taken seriously. First thing in the morning I would contact the building manager and ask what towing facility they use for their lots. Get the number and hold onto it.

Most police departments wont touch it, because its not public property.

My department will not tow off a private lot, or a private driveway. Its up to the owner to tow off their own property.

For OP, you should have a dedicated tow company that tows from your lot. Give them a call next time.....even if it says management only, just throw a anon call towards the tow company. They wont mind, its easy money for them.

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[Azull]

Take the license number, notify the property office when they are open. They should be the ones to handle notifying the person as well as having them towed if they continue to park in places not outlined in their lease agreement.

If you have them towed yourself then you are opening yourself up to a civil case.

[Skyylya]

when you get home to find a nonresident (we have stickers) is parked in your assigned carport spot forcing you to park outside the gated area? It's after office hours btw and only number we have is for maintenance.


Note: this is in LA so don't get me shot.

Funny story. Guy I work with did this by mistake, it was late at night and he was tired and didn't see the faded writing on the road saying reserved or whatever it was so he parked there. The guy whose spot it was parked his car behind him up close like an inch from his bumper and left a note on his windshield cursing him out like crazy and said that he's not going to move his car until the guy I work with pays him or something for the inconvenience.

Well, my co-worker drives an SUV and in front of his car was the curb, a few trees and a pretty steep hill. The trees were like just wide enough he was able to get his SUV between so he just 4-wheeled it up and out and drove on the property grass until he got to an open spot he could pull out.

Guy is usually a tool....but that was pretty cool.

Btw....have it towed.

[gt_killa]

There were time that I had emergencies and could not find parking so I just parked whenever closest I can find, I never had my car tow and I was really glad. To be honest, if it's only the first time you seen that car parked in your space there, I'd give them the benefit of doubt. Otherwise, tow it.

[Ksandra]

No.

It is highly doubtful that the management company has their own towing company. They are likely in a contract with a single agency that does all of their towing at all of their properties. This company is an authorized agent, chosen by the management company. It's not a violation of the lease in any way.

Derock was referring to this:

ok

ONLY thing is in our lease it states: "FPI Management is the only authorized agent to have vehicles towed." (which btw when I go to FPI's website (they are the managing company) we're not listed there....lol nor is there a phone number)

But ya last night I just said "fuck it" and went to bed. Once the office opens we're going to see if the car is still there, and go talk to them about future procedures.

edit:

You know, the more I see you say things like "don't get me shot," the more I want you to be. Don't play out old jokes.

and yaya ya, I know I need to stop but it doesn't help when things like that dude in Hollywood, keep happening. As well as there being some LOUD ASS BITCHES in my complex who scream at their boyfriends/husbands/whatever in Spanish.


Added to that I was watching something on CBS last night about two guys who killed a mom and grandma, then kidnapped some teenagers to try and flee the country. So it was kinda on my mind at the time lol.

[Gryffes]

Is this threa...what... is this seriou.... just... what.


PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE PARKING SPOT RAGE!

[Kohan]

Derock was referring to this:

I understood what he was referring to, and it would not make me change what I said in any way, because it still applies.

No, you are not expected to only have vehicles towed during a management company's business hours. That is nonsense. Effectively, this would mean that someone could block the parking area from the inside and not get towed. That anyone thinks this is possible is silly.

There is a towing company they use. If you don't have an on-site manager, not only should the towing company post signs, but the rules of the parking lot need to be publicly posted too. This is industry standard.

When you call the company, ask them to be clear with you about all these things, and fuck the "giving them the benefit of the doubt" bullshit. This is Los Angeles county, people will do anything they can for a convenient parking space at the expense of someone else. Tow their ass.

EDIT: To drive this point further home, you are paying for that space in your rent. It is your rightfully leased property. Whoever parked there can eat shit, and so can your management company if they dick around with providing towing agency information.

Also, since some people are being whiny bitches about this and giving you shitty advice, the first PDF link from these results explains the law, in mostly plain language, reinforcing what I said. If your management disagrees, they are wrong.

[kuronosan]

This happened to me before. Except the one who parked in my spot thought it was theirs and even confronted my fiancee and screamed in her face about it.

I promptly went to the office and gave them the car information and they said next time it happens call them and it gets towed.

Don't leave a note. You're more likely to cause a problem. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way.

[Talus]

It's a good thing people don't have superpowers. If I were Superman and someone was parked in my spot, that Mercedes would end up parked outside of the International Space Station.

Just sayin'.

[Aksannyi]

On my property and many of the properties nearby, the towing companies actively patrol looking for vehicles to tow. I've seen a lot of vehicles towed from here in the past two years that I've lived here. With any luck, the towing company will troll around the complex and note this vehicle without a sticker parked in an assigned spot and solve the problem for you. Then again, not sure how Cali works as opposed to Fla, they're ruthless around here.

[Brill Weave]

On my property and many of the properties nearby, the towing companies actively patrol looking for vehicles to tow.

This is the same for a bunch of properties in Pittsburgh. They will go through the parking lots their entire shift looking for someone parked illegally. One impound basically pays them for the next two days once you take into account the hook up fee, tow miles to their shop, night time storage rates, day time storage rates etc. Most garages I work with charge 75.00 just to hook the car up. 4.00 per mile towed. And 50.00 for storage overnight with another 50.00 for daylight storage.

[miokomioko]

Most garages I work with charge 75.00 just to hook the car up

Yeah, that shit is nuts. My car was in the midst of getting towed (they were hooking it up when I came home) because it was in the same spot for over 72 hours. The cop was nice enough to basically let me prove that it ran by letting me give it a quick jump before the dude finished hooking it up. Once I did, she told the tow truck dude to stop and put it back down... and I still got charged for the insane hook-up fee and the parking ticket (fuck Santa Barbara).

Every time I look at how much every garage/towyard charges for towing and storage fees, I think "I'm in the wrong business."

[Brill Weave]

It's actually worse if you get the prick that charges by the hour. Most of them will quote 75.00 - 100.00 an hour with a two hour minimum. They keep the "clock" running until they fill out their impound paperwork. I've seen people get gouged for 500.00 or higher more times than I can remember.

[Airenn]

@Mioko

Jesus fuck shit, you had your car almost towed because it stayed in the same spot for a long period of time?

And THEN had to pay the towing company? What the fuck.

Who said you had to pay the towing? The cop? If it was just the tower, I would have said no.

@Ksandra

Was car there this morning?

IS IT THERE NOW?

AND WILL YOU PLEASE POST IF IT'S THERE TONIGHT? I need to know these things, my life is incredibly dull and I have to feed off parking spot rages of internet fellows.

[miokomioko]

I've definitely had a situation where I literally handed over the pink slip to my Camaro to cover its storage fees at a tow yard after I was in an accident. Highway robbery, I tell you.

@Mioko

Jesus fuck shit, you had your car almost towed because it stayed in the same spot for a long period of time?

And THEN had to pay the towing company? What the fuck.

Who said you had to pay the towing? The cop? If it was just the tower, I would have said no.

Yeah, it was parked on the street where (in most cities in CA, I think) it can't be sitting in the same spot for more than 3 days. The battery was fucked, I was tired of jumping it and began neglecting. I accidentally let it sit too long and I guess some douche neighbor called on it because it probably had some leaves piled around the wheels, lol. It was entirely my fault really, they weren't actually basing the tow/ticket on whether or not it actually ran, but the cop was nice enough to save me the tow yard storage fees by telling him to put it down just because I proved it could start up. So I payed the city for the parking ticket and the tow company for sending a guy out to pull some levers and push some buttons.

[Brill Weave]

Who said you had to pay the towing? The cop? If it was just the tower, I would have said no.

Not that simple. We're not talking AAA facilities. AAA facilities operate within specific guidelines. Telling the man who currently has your car hooked up to his tow truck you aren't paying him is a sure fire way to have it impounded. They WANT you to refuse to pay. They want you to give them any excuse to impound your car. Private tow facilities are thieves. Period, point blank.






And in case if anyone is wondering why I know so much about this stuff, I have worked for AAA running the road service department for 13 years.

[Ksandra]

So checked this morning, car wasn't in our spot but in another one (no idea if that's where it's supposed to be). Went to the office and they gave me the number of the towing company for future reference. She also gave me a parking violation warning to put on the car. She said if the same car does it again do the violation first 'cause I guess they've rented out a fuckton of apts recently and she's worried that one of the other secretaries gave a new person our spot on accident, so that way the warning would let them know to contact the office.

Otherwise ya, next time calling right away now I have the number.