QUESTION
Property mgmt towed vehical from private property illegally without defining "common area" in HOA manual.
Asked on Sep 02nd, 2015 on Real Estate - California
More details to this question:
My husband & I rent a condo in an HOA community & recently had a friends vehical that my husband was driving towed off of our driveway. According to our landlord we can park on the driveway as long as the vehicle doesn't go over into the fire Lane, which is the curb at the end of our driveway.
The vehicle did not come near the fire Lane or common area, they call it. Once we got the car out of the tow company & got all paperwork from them, the violation that was given to us, that we never received, said date: 8/18/15, vehical blocking sidewalk. Will be towed by 8/21/15. However it was towed on the same day.
I called to speak to prop mgmt and they changed their "common area" verbally, saying that the sidewalk is the common area. In our HOA rules manual common area is not defined anywhere. So when my landlord called them & asked where it says in the Manuel that the sidewalk is common area the woman told her that it is "implied".
Is this legal since it's not defined & it's my driveway?
1 ANSWER
Estate Litigation Attorney serving Redlands, CA
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Price Law Firm, APC
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I know that getting your car towed can be very upsetting, especially from your own driveway. But I have to tell you that you are not going to be able to argue that a sidewalk is not a common area. Sure, your driveway may not be a common area, but every driveway is traversed by a sidewalk that is the common right of way and connects to a street that is the common right of way. Even though there isn't a definition including the sidewalk in the common area, we all know from common sense that the sidewalk is a common area.
If you're still not convinced, then write a demand letter to the HOA for the cost of getting your car back. Then file a small claims case against the HOA for wrongfully towing the car.
Answered on Sep 02nd, 2015 at 10:28 PM