Parking issues

We have one homeowner who's home is in foreclosure with the bank and in foreclosure with the HOA for nonpayment of annual fees (for the past 5 years). This homeowner also parks a huge yellow commercial van at the house every evening in the driveway and sometimes on the street. Most people who are in foreclosure could give a darn about following the rules of the HOA especially if they are not paying their dues anyway. My question is: once the HOA gives notice regarding the parking of the truck within the confines of the HOA allowing say 15 days to never see it again, can the HOA tow the vehicle? Would the vehicle need to be on the street or would we have the power to tow it from the driveway?

JoAnne

Joanne the HOA MIGHT have the right to tow IF it has a towing policy in place with the requisite signage and follows both the State and any local towing ordinances. Otherwise it would probably require taking the person to court and getting a judicial order to tow. This is really a question for the HOA's attorney, do not rely on advice you receive online (even mine) because it can come back to bite you and the HOA in the tookhes or worse in the wallet.

Joanne

my advice, do not tow unless you have a green light from your attorney and a court order to remove the vehicle. If this person is in foreclosure it will get ugly very fast. Unfortunately you may just have to deal with it until they are forced out of their home.

That settles it! I will get permission to ask the HOA's attorney about this. This particular house is in foreclosure from the bank and also from the association for nonpayment of dues but both foreclosures are going into multiple years at this point. Perhaps the association can ask the attorney to speed it up. Or we can file a lawsuit for the noncompliance. It will serve to drive up his costs in the end. This situation has been going on for quite some time. We need some answers and need to take some action. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction - again.

JoAnne

Joanne

You never said what rule(s) he was violating nor the penalty/fine for such.

Please tell us this post is a joke!

Your attorney does not have the power to grant permission for you to do anything. All he can do is offer his advice and discuss with the consequences of rash behavior.

You can file all the additional lawsuits you want but each one is going to cost you money up front. Your attorney is not going to work for free, so you have thousands of dollars to pay up front with little assurance that you will ever collect a dime of a judgment. This is an owner who has not paid his mortgage or his assessments for years. Why would you think he is going to pay another judgment?

You indicate that this home has been a problem for some time and is involved in two separate court actions. Why is there a sudden need to act? What is the emergency today that did not exist, say, six months ago?

Instead of doing something whacko like hauling the guy's truck away from his driveway, why not have your attorney petition the court for an order? My experience is that when two parties are engaged in litigation that the judge is not going to take kindly to one party hauling away the other one's property without the court's blessings. When your association filed its foreclosure action against the property owner, you submitted this matter to the jurisdiction of the court. You would jeopardize your case by making an end run around the court and taking matters into your own hands.

Our community standards state: No commercial vehicles shall be parked or kept on any residential plot or on any street, easement, or parkway adjacent thereto. Residents will be allowed 5 days to remove a vehicle in this classification to outside storage or make other storage arrangements.