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Any of you folks study law by chance?


Blkm0nk3y92

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Got a situation here at my apetment complex I just moved to in Utah, essentially my car was towed from my paid for parking spot because they started to transition to a new parking permit system but they never gave me a parking permit and they're trying to stick me with the fees. The tricky part is they sent out an email 10 days prior to my car being towed saying, "Were passing out parking permits, if you don't get one, come to the office and pick one up". I don't get the emails because the apartment is in my roommates name(though my name is listed as a resident here) but the roommate is in another state working a different job and didn't inform me. The last tricky part is they put a note on my apartment door on May 1st that I wasn't around to receive, and my vehicle was towed may 2nd, less than 24 hours of a physical directly to my apartment notification.

 

Essentially regardless of the email I wasn't aware of, do I have any grounds to argue on that this 9 days wasn't nearly enough time to react(people go on vacation for 10 days all the time), or that not near enough information was provided to residents? 

 

What do. 

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What part of Utah? Why would you do this to yourself? Cities like Ogden, Provo/Orem, SLC (and any city where there is a university, I guess) are full of predatory towing companies that partner with apartment complexes to tag-team bone you. I'm not sure how much your fees are, but they are strategic in extorting you for the maximum amount that will make going to court over the matter cost-prohibitive for your time and/or money.

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21 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

What part of Utah? Why would you do this to yourself? Cities like Ogden, Provo/Orem, SLC (and any city where there is a university, I guess) are full of predatory towing companies that partner with apartment complexes to tag-team bone you. I'm not sure how much your fees are, but they are strategic in extorting you for the maximum amount that will make going to court over the matter cost-prohibitive for your time and/or money.

Yupppp. SLC. Good job opportunity. Staying smack dab in the middle of downtown, too. 

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Probably not much you can do sadly.  Trying to get legal help from a lawyer would probably cost as much as the towing fees.  You could try looking at the lease you signed and see if there is any fine print that might apply in this situation.  You could try being really polite and nice with the apartment complex and explain the situation but if the tow company has your car they aren't going to budge without being paid.  It is fucked up that you are paying to live at this place and they just removed your car all of a sudden because you didn't have some bs "permit".

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On 5/24/2019 at 6:15 PM, Greatoneshere said:

I apologize I'll get on this I've just been so busy lately. :)

I'm still curious on if there's any kind of legality to protect me on this if you've got anything. I've scoured Google several times with no luck. Even if there's not a law specifically, I feel like any judge that listens to the scenario would understand there's no way residents were given enough time to react.

 

Ended up costing me $950 to get my car out because the apartment manager went on vacation 2 days after the towing starting, one day after my car was towed. I couldn't afford to get it out then because I had just moved here, so I spent a week trying to get ahold of her and discussing it with her assistant and contacting her Regional Manager. Then after a week of countless emails, they conclude because of the email they sent 10 days prior that they sent to my roommate, that they're not at fault at all. The fees went up every day until it got ridiculously high and I ended up having to borrow the money.

 

I'm already mentally prepared to just take the loss, but not before I rule out what my chances would be if I were to take them to court over it. I pay for the parking spot, when I moved in they didn't have a parking permit system, just assigned spots(All the information in my lease about parking/towing/my assigned spot gives them no right to tow my car), then they decided to transfer over to a new parking permit system, they never provided me a parking permit, the only warning I got was an email that was sent to my roommates email, but hes in another state working right now & a note on my door in which my car was towed approximately ~14 hours after.

 

@Greatoneshere

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On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 9:09 PM, Blkm0nk3y92 said:

I'm still curious on if there's any kind of legality to protect me on this if you've got anything. I've scoured Google several times with no luck. Even if there's not a law specifically, I feel like any judge that listens to the scenario would understand there's no way residents were given enough time to react.

 

@Greatoneshere

 

Due to work and some computer issues this week I still haven't been able to get to this but I will! Just note I don't practice law anymore so you'll want to consult an actual lawyer before deciding anything officially if you take things further. :)

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On 5/21/2019 at 10:14 PM, Kal-El814 said:

It's been a while and I don't think I've done it since the reboot so I'll miss someone...

 

D1P Legal Team... ASSEMBLE!

 

@Greatoneshere - Abandoned the profession I think!

@ByWatterson - Did too, I believe!

@LazyPiranha - Bees are domesticated animals!

@dreammitchconner - Didn't survive the purge! :(

@someone else I forgot!

@RedSoxFan9 - maybe self-representation isn't so bad :p

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Well I got the car back... lol. I couldn't afford it when it was only $250 when I got shafted to begin with, so in the midst of my arguments with management it went up $40 a day, up to $950 in which I eventually had to borrow some money to make it happen.

 

I don't wanna get a lawyer at all, if I'm taking this to court I'm going to argue for myself. I've never had to file a lawsuit or been involved in much legally before, but I really feel like I was dicked over here. The only way I could've prevented my car from getting towed since they didn't provide me with a parking pass, was to see the note on my door and go pick one up. I didn't get to see the note till after my car was gone, even if I did see it, I would've only had the time within business hours of the office to go pick it up which limits it even more. The ONLY other warning that was sent to residents was the email 10 days before that doesn't go to my email, and even then, 10 days doesn't even seem like an appropriate amount of time. That's just me being a broken record now, though.

 

Silly question... if there's no "law" they broke, could I still take it to small claims court and argue in front of a judge/jury that it was unfair and maybe convince them to be on my side? What if other residents had a similar experience with the transition? Or could I argue it was towed illegally?(My vehicle matched all the parking stipulations in my signed lease, and it didn't break or fall subject to any of their 'tow' stipulations in it either)

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Okay, finally have read your posts @Blkm0nk3y92 and can give it proper attention. I want to be clear to not take my words as a lawyer but this is my take:

 

Whether you have a case or not depends on a number of factors, depending on whether you are a tenant or a subletter, what the terms of the lease are between you and the landlord, and your arrangement with your roommate. My initial instinct is to say you have no case assuming the usual scenario - you are a tenant who pays rent to a landlord - though I am no expert in Utah tenancy law, which may have exceptions to the general rule. They gave you notice, both by e-mail (them sending it to one of you is enough, your "negligence" in not also being on the e-mail list is your fault in the law's eyes, not the landlord's) and they also left a final physical notice as well to move the vehicle lest it be towed.

 

You may have a good case to argue that you weren't given enough time/notice (as you suggest with people being away on vacations, etc.) but again, if it's a basic, boilerplate kind of lease I imagine 10 days (or whatever the exact amount of time was - you should find that out for sure first rather than just working off of your recollection/what you personally remember experiencing) is enough notice for parking spot updates/car towing and removal. You definitely sound like you were "dicked over" in my opinion, but me as a person who is personally very organized it also sounds like it was partially your fault based on a few factors (not being on the mailing list, missing the physical notice, other factors you may not be aware of where they did notify residents). While I'm on your side on this, in the eyes of the law barring a few factors that may provide exception it just sounds like you have an aggressive landlord (when they didn't have to be) and they used their power to the fullest. I would say it wouldn't be a waste of time to try and argue it to a judge, though winning would be dependent on how seriously the landlord takes it. Just be sure you've exhausted all options with getting reimbursed by the landlord directly (threaten legal action, usually that's enough to get them to pay you directly instead) before resorting to court. If you have any further questions or I left something unaddressed, please let me know in this thread. 

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