My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Illinois
Some history... I lease a condo directly from the unit owner in a condo complex located in a Chicago suburb. Have leased this same unit for the past three years. I have a fairly typical signed lease. Never had any issues during the entire time, until recently.
Two weeks back, I received a call at work from my wife in a panic, stating that I better come home right away as while walking our dog, she noticed a tow truck backing up to one of my vehicles in the community lot. She kept the tow driver busy while I raced home from work.
I didn't talk to the tow driver as he was already gone by the time I got home, but per my wife he was told to tow a list of vehicles by the complex office manager. He said the list was for vehicles identified as inoperable. My wife told him the vehicle was fully operational and just hadn't been driven in a few days, which was the truth. He told her to show him it was operational and he would not tow it. She got the keys, cleared the snow off of the front windshield (which becomes a key point to this part of my story), started the car, drove it around the lot and parked it. He said, "Good by him" and moved on to tow a different vehicle in the same community lot.
When I got home, I immediately went to the office and confronted the manager and asked why I had to come home from work early to prevent my vehicle from being towed. She explained that only inoperable vehicles were being towed. Of course my reply was that was clearly not the case as my vehicle was fully operational, had valid state license plates and a valid parking permit, issued by that office.
We had a quick exchange of verbal challenges back and forth as follows -
Office manager: How am I am supposed to know if the vehicle is operational or not?
Me: Well, simple... You ask.
Office manager: And how am I supposed to know who to ask?
Me: Each of my vehicles has the required complex parking permit. To get the permits, I had to complete a registration form which lists my name, building and unit number, contact phone numbers, year, make, model, color and license plate number of the vehicle. Shouldn't be that hard to cross-reference and contact me. I would have been happy to demonstrate that the vehicle is fully operational.
Office manager: You expect me to look through a file cabinet full of hundreds of forms to find yours?
Me: Yes, rather than towing cars, which are fully operational, licensed and have a valid parking permit.
Office manager: The reason I put it on the tow list is because it had snow on it, so I couldn't tell if it was operational or not.
Me: So, your decision is to tow vehicles that you can't tell are operational or not?
Office manager: One way to avoid this problem is to clear the snow from your vehicles immediately after each snowfall.
Me: Isn't that a bit extreme? Does snow being on a vehicle actually render it inoperable? Does it violate any complex, local, or state laws? And if I am at work with another vehicle when it snows, am I expected to come home and continuously monitor each vehicle to keep snow from accumulating on them? You did say immediately. Isn't that a bit vague?
Office manager: She just shrugged and when I realized she wasn't going to offer any useful response, I left the office.
A few points to mention... The rules and regulations for all owners and tenants do state that all vehicles must be moved after one inch of snow to permit the plowing of the lot. We did get about two inches of snow a few days earlier and I had moved each vehicle as required. There was little to no snow around my vehicle (less than half an inch), only about two inches of snow on and only on the front of my vehicle.
The verbiage of the rules and regulations state the following -
1. Vehicles must be fully operational
2. Vehicles must have valid license plates and complex parking permit
3. Vehicles must occupy only one parking space at a time
4. Repairs other than charging a dead battery or changing a flat tire are prohibited
5. The washing, waxing or polishing of vehicles in the lot is prohibited
Don't see anything about uncovering snow in there.
And on to my second issue...
Just yesterday, the office put a printed notice on each entrance door that reads -
Notice to all resdents
Effective Thursday 2/1, all vehicles must display a parking permit for all resident and visitor vehicles at all times or vehicles will be towed without notice.
Parking permits may be obtained from the management office.
Then today, I received an email from my landlord's management company stating the same and providing a bit more detail. Visitor permits are $5 and are good for 7 passes, each good for up to 24 hours. it is a two part form that has to be filled out, including owner and vehicle details and the bottom half has to be displayed in clear view on the visitor's vehicle. The top half needs to be supplied to the office.
I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with this new "rule", but there are at least a few problems with it -
1. It is a major hassle to do this for every visitor and every visit
2. it is an added fee that is not referenced anywhere in my lease or the association's rules and regulations. It is a sudden and arbitrary change.
3. The office is closed on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and after 5 pm weekdays, so it is not possible to either obtain a permit or return the top half of the form as required, basically requiring you to obtain them in advance
4. It is obviously not possible to know in advance when someone might stop by to visit, making this impractical at best
In doing some Internet research, I am getting the feeling that at the very least, the visitor parking rule may not be legal. I came across a number of references to the change without amendment to the governing documents and also the imposing of the fee for common area such as a community parking lot implies their intention to operate a paid parking lot, which they are not approved for.
So, I am looking for any legal advice or even just opinions by anyone with experience in HOA/Condo Association laws on these two issues. My two questions are -
1. Is having a vehicle towed for simply having some snow on it legal? Does the association have any legal responsibility to verify such a claim before towing a vehicle?
2. Can an association arbitrarily impose a visitor parking permit fee like this without amending their by-laws/rules and regulations legal?
Thanks for any guidance!
Some history... I lease a condo directly from the unit owner in a condo complex located in a Chicago suburb. Have leased this same unit for the past three years. I have a fairly typical signed lease. Never had any issues during the entire time, until recently.
Two weeks back, I received a call at work from my wife in a panic, stating that I better come home right away as while walking our dog, she noticed a tow truck backing up to one of my vehicles in the community lot. She kept the tow driver busy while I raced home from work.
I didn't talk to the tow driver as he was already gone by the time I got home, but per my wife he was told to tow a list of vehicles by the complex office manager. He said the list was for vehicles identified as inoperable. My wife told him the vehicle was fully operational and just hadn't been driven in a few days, which was the truth. He told her to show him it was operational and he would not tow it. She got the keys, cleared the snow off of the front windshield (which becomes a key point to this part of my story), started the car, drove it around the lot and parked it. He said, "Good by him" and moved on to tow a different vehicle in the same community lot.
When I got home, I immediately went to the office and confronted the manager and asked why I had to come home from work early to prevent my vehicle from being towed. She explained that only inoperable vehicles were being towed. Of course my reply was that was clearly not the case as my vehicle was fully operational, had valid state license plates and a valid parking permit, issued by that office.
We had a quick exchange of verbal challenges back and forth as follows -
Office manager: How am I am supposed to know if the vehicle is operational or not?
Me: Well, simple... You ask.
Office manager: And how am I supposed to know who to ask?
Me: Each of my vehicles has the required complex parking permit. To get the permits, I had to complete a registration form which lists my name, building and unit number, contact phone numbers, year, make, model, color and license plate number of the vehicle. Shouldn't be that hard to cross-reference and contact me. I would have been happy to demonstrate that the vehicle is fully operational.
Office manager: You expect me to look through a file cabinet full of hundreds of forms to find yours?
Me: Yes, rather than towing cars, which are fully operational, licensed and have a valid parking permit.
Office manager: The reason I put it on the tow list is because it had snow on it, so I couldn't tell if it was operational or not.
Me: So, your decision is to tow vehicles that you can't tell are operational or not?
Office manager: One way to avoid this problem is to clear the snow from your vehicles immediately after each snowfall.
Me: Isn't that a bit extreme? Does snow being on a vehicle actually render it inoperable? Does it violate any complex, local, or state laws? And if I am at work with another vehicle when it snows, am I expected to come home and continuously monitor each vehicle to keep snow from accumulating on them? You did say immediately. Isn't that a bit vague?
Office manager: She just shrugged and when I realized she wasn't going to offer any useful response, I left the office.
A few points to mention... The rules and regulations for all owners and tenants do state that all vehicles must be moved after one inch of snow to permit the plowing of the lot. We did get about two inches of snow a few days earlier and I had moved each vehicle as required. There was little to no snow around my vehicle (less than half an inch), only about two inches of snow on and only on the front of my vehicle.
The verbiage of the rules and regulations state the following -
1. Vehicles must be fully operational
2. Vehicles must have valid license plates and complex parking permit
3. Vehicles must occupy only one parking space at a time
4. Repairs other than charging a dead battery or changing a flat tire are prohibited
5. The washing, waxing or polishing of vehicles in the lot is prohibited
Don't see anything about uncovering snow in there.
And on to my second issue...
Just yesterday, the office put a printed notice on each entrance door that reads -
Notice to all resdents
Effective Thursday 2/1, all vehicles must display a parking permit for all resident and visitor vehicles at all times or vehicles will be towed without notice.
Parking permits may be obtained from the management office.
Then today, I received an email from my landlord's management company stating the same and providing a bit more detail. Visitor permits are $5 and are good for 7 passes, each good for up to 24 hours. it is a two part form that has to be filled out, including owner and vehicle details and the bottom half has to be displayed in clear view on the visitor's vehicle. The top half needs to be supplied to the office.
I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with this new "rule", but there are at least a few problems with it -
1. It is a major hassle to do this for every visitor and every visit
2. it is an added fee that is not referenced anywhere in my lease or the association's rules and regulations. It is a sudden and arbitrary change.
3. The office is closed on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and after 5 pm weekdays, so it is not possible to either obtain a permit or return the top half of the form as required, basically requiring you to obtain them in advance
4. It is obviously not possible to know in advance when someone might stop by to visit, making this impractical at best
In doing some Internet research, I am getting the feeling that at the very least, the visitor parking rule may not be legal. I came across a number of references to the change without amendment to the governing documents and also the imposing of the fee for common area such as a community parking lot implies their intention to operate a paid parking lot, which they are not approved for.
So, I am looking for any legal advice or even just opinions by anyone with experience in HOA/Condo Association laws on these two issues. My two questions are -
1. Is having a vehicle towed for simply having some snow on it legal? Does the association have any legal responsibility to verify such a claim before towing a vehicle?
2. Can an association arbitrarily impose a visitor parking permit fee like this without amending their by-laws/rules and regulations legal?
Thanks for any guidance!
Community Rules: Changes in Condo Parking Rules and Permit Requirements
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