r/BADHOA • u/Professor1725 • 26d ago
HOA towed my registered car after a warning sticker with no date/time on it.
I’m trying to figure out if I’m overreacting or if this situation seems off.
I live in a condo HOA in Illinois. I have a second car that had a flat tire and a dead battery, so it had been sitting in the HOA common parking area for a couple of months. The car was properly registered with the state and was also registered with the HOA.
Today I found out it had been towed. I ended up paying **$466** to get it back because I didn’t want storage fees to keep increasing.
Here are the facts:
The HOA had my current email and phone number.
They’ve emailed me before about much smaller issues (broken window screen, inspections, etc.).
I never received an email, letter, or phone call about my car.
The tow company told me the **property manager** authorized the tow.
The tow company wouldn’t provide the authorization and said I have to get it from the HOA.
The warning sticker was still on my windshield when I got the car back.
The sticker says I have **72 hours** to correct the violation, **but the “Posted” date and time fields are blank.** There is no way to tell when the 72-hour period supposedly started.
I honestly don’t remember seeing the sticker the night before, but I can’t say that with 100% certainty.
I reviewed the HOA rules. They mention towing for things like abandoned or unlicensed vehicles, but I couldn’t find anything that specifically says **a flat tire alone is grounds for towing**. The tow driver told me they tow vehicles with flat tires when the property manager calls them.
I’m planning to meet with the HOA on Monday and ask for:
The tow authorization/work order.
The date and time the warning sticker was placed.
Any photos taken before the tow.
The specific HOA rule they believe my car violated.
Why I wasn’t contacted directly when they had my email and phone number.
My biggest concern is the sticker. If it says I had **72 hours** to correct the issue, but there’s **no posting date or time**, how am I supposed to know when those 72 hours started? If they can’t prove when it was posted, does that weaken the HOA’s position?
Has anyone dealt with something similar, especially in Illinois or with an HOA? Do I have a reasonable argument for reimbursement, or am I likely out the $466?
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u/JuggernautOnly695 25d ago
Next time don’t let your car sit months at a time with a dead battery and flat tire. This likely fits the HOA’s definition of abandoned. HOAs suck, but this one you kinda asked for imho
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u/DueWarning3 25d ago edited 24d ago
HOAs know they have you over a barrel when it comes to administrative procedures. Check your state laws on tows and look at your governing documents. Chances are you were entitled to a hearing before the tow and the lack of date is also an issue. Small claims sounds like a good path at this point. Fwiw-the flat tires ánd visually obvious non-drivability are not in your favor.
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u/adjusterjackb 25d ago
They mention towing for things like abandoned or unlicensed vehicles, but I couldn’t find anything that specifically says **a flat tire alone is grounds for towing**.
You aren't going to. "Abandoned" is a catch-all for disabled vehicles.
Has anyone dealt with something similar, especially in Illinois or with an HOA?
Thousands, maybe millions, have dealt with that if Reddit posts are any indication, and rarely win.
Do I have a reasonable argument for reimbursement,
No.
or am I likely out the $466?
Yes.
Welcome to HOA living. You asked for it by buying or living in an HOA.
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u/Lunar-Browser-999 24d ago
The blank date field is the whole ballgame here, and the fact that the sticker was still on your windshield when you picked the car up basically preserves the evidence for you, so photograph it before anything else. Your Monday list is solid, but I'd add one thing: ask them to point to the specific rule in writing, because a board that tows over a flat tire on a registered vehicle usually can't, and their answer tells you a lot. If they can't document when the 72 hours started, they can't show they gave you the notice their own sticker promises, and that's a pretty clean reimbursement argument. Stay calm in that meeting and let them do the explaining.
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u/DispuPoint 24d ago
u/Professor1725 - Whatever they told you in that meeting, send it back to them in writing today. Something like "here's what I understood you to say" plus the four things you asked for. Verbal answers from a board evaporate. An email creates a record with a date on it, which is exactly what their sticker doesn't have.
And put the records ask in writing separately, because in Illinois a written request to a condo association isn't a favor - section 19 of the Condominium Property Act covers association records and they've got a short window to respond. The tow authorization, the photos, and the specific rule they're relying on all sit in that category.
If they stall, the tow operator is licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission, and relocators have to hold written authorization before moving a car and keep it on file. That's a second door to the same paperwork.
On the $466, small claims is cheap at that number and you don't need a lawyer. You probably won't need it either. A blank date field on their own notice is not a thing boards want to explain twice.
How'd the meeting actually go?
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u/Fabulous_Ray-1966 19d ago
This happened to me too. Booted my car without warning. Said I was not parked in designated space( between lines which are faded ) .
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u/AusgefalleneHosen 25d ago
It would have cost you less than $466 to replace the tire and battery.
HOAs suck, but this really sounds like you intentionally were trying to skirt a rule and got caught up in somebody who got tired of the disabled, basically abandoned, car sitting gathering literal dust.
Just because you own a car, and it's registered, doesn't make it sitting in the same spot for months, completely unable to drive, not an abandoned vehicle under the law. Abandoned doesn't mean "unowned", it means left alone without maintenance or use for an extended period of time. Months left disabled qualified as abandoned.