So, long story short...
Late Saturday night I was visiting some friends that had just purchased and were moving into a new condo in W. Jordan. It was after that bad snow/wind storm, and I had parked on the street. 15 minutes later I was told that my car was being towed. I walked out, and the guy had booted my car, and I had 20 minutes to come up with $104 cash or else it was going to be towed. I went to get the money, and on my way back couldn't help but notice that the "no parking" sign was completely covered with snow and could not be seen. I pointed this out to my new friend in the tow truck and he said it's the homeowner’s responsibility to inform guests that they can't park on the street. I'm sure that’s fine for most people, but they homeowner hadn't even lived in the place for 12 hours...so I think a little flexibility should be in order.
At any rate, the owner of the towing company doesn’t seem particularly interested in making concessions due to the circumstances. He was polite though. I'm just frustrated because I don't believe the "ignorance is no excuse" clause can really be used here since it's on private property and the spirit of the rule is to keep fire lanes clear for emergency/snow plow access. If the privately contracted enforcement company (acting on behalf of the HOA) was really interested in preserving emergency access (instead of profiting from the testicular stranglehold they put on people) then he wouldn't have booted my car making it immobile for 40 minutes. Instead, I think he would have either A)said something to the 3 people smoking in the driveway 3 FEET away and given me the opportunity to move it or B) had some compassion after he realized nobody had any idea that parking was not allowed there and there were no fixed signs stating that was the case.
All frustrations aside, do I have any recourse? Do you think that the HOA has either the care or the clout to do something about this sham artist effin tow company that took me for $104?
Is it even worth taking it to small claims court?
I do have pictures of the snowpacked sign too in case that would help.
Late Saturday night I was visiting some friends that had just purchased and were moving into a new condo in W. Jordan. It was after that bad snow/wind storm, and I had parked on the street. 15 minutes later I was told that my car was being towed. I walked out, and the guy had booted my car, and I had 20 minutes to come up with $104 cash or else it was going to be towed. I went to get the money, and on my way back couldn't help but notice that the "no parking" sign was completely covered with snow and could not be seen. I pointed this out to my new friend in the tow truck and he said it's the homeowner’s responsibility to inform guests that they can't park on the street. I'm sure that’s fine for most people, but they homeowner hadn't even lived in the place for 12 hours...so I think a little flexibility should be in order.
At any rate, the owner of the towing company doesn’t seem particularly interested in making concessions due to the circumstances. He was polite though. I'm just frustrated because I don't believe the "ignorance is no excuse" clause can really be used here since it's on private property and the spirit of the rule is to keep fire lanes clear for emergency/snow plow access. If the privately contracted enforcement company (acting on behalf of the HOA) was really interested in preserving emergency access (instead of profiting from the testicular stranglehold they put on people) then he wouldn't have booted my car making it immobile for 40 minutes. Instead, I think he would have either A)said something to the 3 people smoking in the driveway 3 FEET away and given me the opportunity to move it or B) had some compassion after he realized nobody had any idea that parking was not allowed there and there were no fixed signs stating that was the case.
All frustrations aside, do I have any recourse? Do you think that the HOA has either the care or the clout to do something about this sham artist effin tow company that took me for $104?
Is it even worth taking it to small claims court?
I do have pictures of the snowpacked sign too in case that would help.
