guest blog by Nila Ridings
Boy, Oh Boy! Is Heritage Property Management and Ridge Creek Condos in Clarkston, Georgia trying for the Georgia State Stupidity Award???
Kayla Holland is a condo renter. Her car got booted because her landlord didn’t pay the HOA dues. She out-smarted them, she had the tires, boot and all removed! An unidentified owner has his dues debited from his bank account but he got the boot, too.
But we sent them a letter, says the goofball property manager! Did the letter say we have no right to do this but we are? Did it say we are going to hold your personal vehicle hostage and act like the “repo man” even though this debt has nothing to do with your car? Even though our CC&Rs don’t list your car as part of the contract you signed when you bought into this lousy loser of a condo complex, we are using every method we can dream up to collect our dues? Does it say our next step to collect will be kidnapping your children? What does that letter and their CC&Rs say? I want to read them!
What happens if an owner or renter gets called out? Let’s say it’s a doctor or a surgical nurse… and they race to their car and find it’s booted? And some innocent accident victim dies because they can’t get to the hospital. Or, they damage a tire or rim with that boot and the driver has an accident at 75 MPH and it’s determined to be caused by damage to the tire. Or, some guy gets a six pack and a few shots of tequila under his belt and decides to wait in his car for the “boot man” to arrive… and he has a loaded pistol. What, then, Heritage Property Management and Ridge Creek Condo Board of Directors? What then?
Here’s “what then!” All the condo owners are going to be liable for a multi-million dollar settlement from a nice, big nasty lawsuit. All over a boot that should never have been placed on the vehicle in the first place!
Good Gawd! Where does it stop? HOAs can take your home, wipe out your bank account, destroy your health, and now they think they can lock up your car!!!
A special THANK YOU to Amy Napier Viteri for reporting this story!
(link to WSBTV news story on booted cars)
Another example of tenants getting caught in the crossfire between HOAs and owners. Another abusive bully tactic that would not be allowed by collections agencies, unless, of course, they happened to be collecting past due payments on a vehicle loan or lease.
The liability these rogue HOAs create for themselves are abundantly stupid.
I wonder if the bright light bulbs thought that if the person in the house had a medical emergency and for some reason they could not get 911 that the car might just be the only way to get emergency help. I would think enforcing traffic rules which many have would not be the right to boot a car especially a third party which is a renter. HOA are the most frighting organization I have ever read about. My biggest problem is I live in one.
Good point, tom dee!
I thought about the possibility that if there was a gas leak or whatever and residents were ordered to evacuate the area…how would those with boots on their cars get out?
I guess we could do the “what ifs” until the cows come home but the point being; booting cars is not a good idea.
And like Dave Russell said they are creating liabilities with their own stupidity.
And Deborah Goonan makes another good point.
I’m hoping somebody with video or movie making skills will put together a 15 minute video on a disc that could be mailed to the legislators to show them exactly the stupid and dangerous things that HOAs are doing. Perhaps seeing snippets of these stories with some of the points we have brought out would be enough to shake them awake? They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
What do you think?