Parking ticket fines???

Started by MarkM19 • 10 replies • 4609 views

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MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 65

Posted:

We have a HOA with 400+ single family homes. We have private streets that we maintain. We have Security on site 16 hours daily to enforce traffic rules and write tickets. We do not allow overnight parking on the streets. We do not allow guests to be on the streets for more than 4 hours without being registered in our database. If anyone gets 3 tickets within a 6 month period thier car can be towed at the owners expense.

We currently do not charge a fee for tickets issued. We pay our Security company over 100K a year to write worthless tickets. The HOs do pay if they get towed but that money goes to the tow company.

My question is who is currently in our situation and is charging for tickets issued and are they getting paid by the HOs. Our President thinks that we will not be able to collect these fees. I think that we will if the HOs want to stay in "Good Standing"

Thanks
Mark

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

WHY are these tickets being ignored?

Are these "real" tickets or HOA internal paperwork?

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Internal HOA tickets.

JenniferM10 (Illinois)
Posts: 97

Posted:

Is there a fine attached to the Internal HOA Tickets? As long it is something covered in your documents, why aren't they being forced to pay?

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Currently we do not have any fines for parking. We are starting to discuss the possibility of starting to fine on a stepped format. $10 for first $20 for second and $30 for third and Tow on 4th ticket. We will obviously have to change our Good Nieghbor Policy to cover these changes. We need to anyway because of a few rules that are in conflict with each other.

My question is for the HOAs that already have fines in place. Are they effective and are the fines collected. He currently spend over 100K a year for security which is 10% of our budget. I would love to see if we could offset that with the fines from the few that do not follow the rules.

Thanks
Mark

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,061

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarkM19 on 01/09/2011 10:51 AM

I would love to see if we could offset that with the fines from the few that do not follow the rules.

This might be a side benefit, however this should never be the reason to start fining.

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Tim,
I totally agree with you. It is just frustrating that so few break the rules and we have to hire security to try and make them follow the rules and it is a drain on our finances.

Mark

SharonG4 (Mississippi)
Posts: 54

Posted:

Mark,

We have a fine system for covenant violations in place but collection is spotty.( I have attached our policy) We are not allowed to place a lien or forclose for fines-only for nonpayment of assessments and late fees associated with that--so homeowners can just ignore the fines if they wish. Our bylaws do allow us to deny homeowners "not in good standing" a vote in any election or from serving on any committees or the board of directors but other than that, there is really no "teeth" in the policy. We don't have any community property, like a pool or clubhouse, but if you did then you could deny access to those facilities if fines were not paid.

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SharonG4 (Mississippi)
Posts: 54

Posted:

Mark,

I forgot to add. When the exhibit was written, it stated that liens to collect would be allowed but we later learned that this exhibit was attached to our bylaws, not our CC& R's Evidently, unless it was stated in the CC&R specifically that "fines" could be levied, we could try to use them as an enforcement tool but we couldn't file a lien on the property for unpaid fines. Currently, we are amending the CC&R's to included the use of fines as a method of enforcement.

DanielH1 (California)
Posts: 482

Posted:

I live in California, too.

Here's a link to some laws related to HOAs and vehicles (from the CA DMV web site):

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22658.htm

California's laws are very much in favor of the violator, not the HOA. Also, you must follow Davis-Stirling as well.

My conclusion is ...

You can tow cars parked in a fire lane or blocking the complex immediately.

You can't tow cars parked anywhere else unless the car is issued a violation and the car isn't moved for 3 days. If the car is moved, even if it is re-parked illegally in another place, it can't be towed.

Only designated agents of the HOA can issue violations (fines). The Board can designate its security company as an agent, though. BUT ...

Parking fines must follow Davis-Stirling and provide an opportunity for a hearing and due-process. If the violator requests a hearing and the agent (your security company) does not show up to defend the ticket, it is a violation of due process: the violator must have a chance to confront his accuser. If the security company does not show up, the Board should throw it out.

Even if the fine sticks, fines can't be used to foreclose on a person's home, only fees.

Of course, if the person lives outside the complex, there's nothing that you can do. The local police won't come onto private property to enforce parking laws; security company can only issue tickets and can't tow unless the car is parked in the same place for more than 3 days. The person can just ignore the tickets since the HOA isn't a government agency.

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Why is everything always so complicated?

You guys have brought up some things that I had not thought about yet. I wonder how we would be perceived if the only people we would require to pay tickets are HOs. We have a database of many cars and owners but not every owner or every car.

Much more work will ne required.

Thanks again
Mark

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