Believe My Car Was Towed Unfairly

blingerz on 19/12/2018 - 17:35
Last edited 20/12/2018 - 10:24

Hi all,

Just want to see if what my owners corp is doing is fair and legal.

I live in an estate of about 80 townhouses (map below). Each townhouse has two or three bedrooms but only one car space so a lot of the residents have to park on the streets. Parking has always been a nightmare because the no. of occupants living in this area and resulting no. of cars was far greater than the no. of parking spots available. To make matters worse, about two weeks ago, a sign was put on "blue" street saying that entering the estate is private property and that the owners corp could request your car be towed at anytime. Not being able to park outside my own house is already a hindrance but I thought it only applied to "blue" street and that I could still park on the other smaller streets.

Yesterday, after parking on "green" lane the night before, I woke up to find that my car had been towed. "Green" lane has some cutouts on the pavements that could reasonably be misconstrued for parking spots (as in my case). After calling the owners corp, I was told that these were actually meant for bins. Note, there are no signs to say that its for bins only or that this is a no parking area. I had no choice but to pay $590 to get my car back. Residents are now forced to park on Ulmara Parkway and the outside streets which makes them even more crowded and unsafe.

I know that a couple of neighbours are also annoyed with these new rules - pamphlets left on my car saying we should take action, general conversation with direct neighbours etc. I have contacted legal aid; however, was not able to get an appointment until next year because of the Christmas period. I have also contacted my landlord to get a copy of the owners corp rules but want to know if what they did was legal and how best to approach the whole parking situation in this area in general.

https://imgur.com/a/IScC99M

UPDATE:

More cars are parked there this morning who have probably also misconstrued the cutouts as parking spots. The cutout in the previous link is the only one that has "No standing" on the pavement and thats where all the bins are put on bin night. There are at least 10 other cutouts on the estate with no signs. Bin night is on Monday morning each week.

https://imgur.com/a/aRayNj1

Home & Garden

Comments

  • gooddealmate on 19/12/2018 - 17:42
    +12

    Argh, your link is full of pop up noisy adverts causing havoc on my mobile..

    Don't click it.. unless you want spam.

    • pegaxs on 19/12/2018 - 22:45
      +2

      I saw “mediafire” and knew instantly that I wasn't going to be clicking on that link… :D

      Edit: I did some more recon work of the site and came up with some awesome photos that include bins and cars parked in different areas.

      If you want to view it in Google, use this link and not that garbage, virus riddled mediafire bullshit…

      • blingerz on 19/12/2018 - 23:29

        sorry and thanks for this. I will edit the original post to include this link.

      • CodeXD on 19/12/2018 - 23:58
        +1

        Thanks for your hard work.

  • chumlee on 19/12/2018 - 17:42
    +7

    $590 seems excessive.

    Speak to tenants union perhaps

    • try2bhelpful on 19/12/2018 - 18:18

      that is who I would chat to.

    • inherentchoice on 20/12/2018 - 13:23

      I have a local towie who only charges $160 to tow a car 120 km!

  • HighAndDry on 19/12/2018 - 17:51
    +2

    entering the estate is private property

    So it said "the estate" and not "just blue street"? Is "green lane" in the estate?

  • cassidy02 on 19/12/2018 - 17:57

    I was under the impression that tow trucks couldn't tow anything from private property (unless it's a breakdown). Did the OC get it towed, of the council?

    • HighAndDry on 19/12/2018 - 18:02

      From OP's post - OC had it towed as it was on OC property.

      • bobbified on 31/12/2018 - 19:45

        IIRC, OC isn't allowed to simply tow a car that's parked on private property. It's a very grey area.

        There were similar issues at my old place and the building manager kept saying that they've got very limited power in getting the car towed. It became more and more of a problem as other cars followed residents into the private section of the carpark. So it was suggested that the people who were impacted were told to park the offenders in.

  • elgrande on 19/12/2018 - 18:01
    +1

    I agree that the cutouts on "green" Lane do look like car parks. And most people seem to get their bins emptied on Ulmara Pkwy, not their lane.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2018 - 18:10
    +1

    I don't think it is fair but good luck contesting this.

    The vultures want to be paid their meagre fees for their skill and effort. Someone is going to have to pay. It's you vs body corp.

    There's simply insufficient parking for the residents and occasional guests. This is going to be a struggle that can only get worse with time.

  • SnoozeAndLose on 19/12/2018 - 18:16
    +1

    If it is in NSW, it is illegal unless they have introduce a new by law empower them to tow.

  • Baysew on 19/12/2018 - 18:33
    +4

    was not able to get an appointment until next year because of the Christmas period.

    Same at OzBargain.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2018 - 18:53

    Sounds like it was towed fairly, but legally may be another matter. The OC isn't the one responsible for you having more cars than spaces.

    You'd need to speak with a lawyer about this if you want to ascertain whether it was done legally, I know from having to deal with cars being parked on and damaging OC property it's a mess better dealt with by giving notices rather than towing, but the law is such a mess on this, only a lawyer could tell you 'for sure'*.

  • EightImmortals on 19/12/2018 - 18:58
    +4

    "I know that a couple of neighbours are also annoyed with these new rules - pamphlets left on my car saying we should take action…"

    This should be your first course of action, a problem shared is a problem halves and tyrants of all degrees soon dissolve when people get together. (See 'The Tiny Dot' on youtube. :) ) Then you can decide on a course of action TOGETHER, sharing the expenses.

    Also, check these guys out, they may be able to help.

    http://aussiespeedingfines.com/

    Thirdly, get out to Green St ASAP and take a heap of photos (with timestamps) before the bodgy corp sticks signs up.

    Also this: http://hyneslegal.com.au/archived-news/can-abody-corporate-t…

    Towing a car is no different. We first covered this in 2009 here. The distinction everyone has to remember is that a car parked on common property is going to fall into one of three categories. It will belong to either:-

    An owner or occupier; or
    A guest or invitee (someone parking in visitor car parking with an owner or occupiers invitation); or
    A third party with no connection at all with the scheme.
    If it is an owner or occupier, then the only way to tow it away is by an adjudicator’s order. Put up as many warning signs threatening immediate towing as you like – if you want to enforce by-laws then there is a process to follow.

    If a car is parked in an exclusive use space belonging to another owner then that owner may have rights. However, if the body corporate is to enforce them, then the same process will apply.

    And this: https://www.lawanswers.com.au/threads/does-body-corporate-ha…

    • blingerz on 19/12/2018 - 23:31

      Thanks for the advice, I'll certainly look into it. The links you've posted have been very helpful.

  • jjjaar on 19/12/2018 - 19:04
    +4

    Not being able to park outside my own house is already a hindrance

    If this is so important to you, why would you live somewhere that only provides 1 car space and nothing else nearby?

    I live near a station and frequently can’t find parking near my own house. When I moved parking wasn’t bad on street but it’s gotten heaps worse over the years. But at the end of the day I moved there knowing I only had access to one off street space and anything else could change at any point.

    If parking nearby to your house is really that important, you should live somewhere with more spaces allocated to your property.

    • blingerz on 20/12/2018 - 09:51

      Honestly, I didn't think it would be an issue at first. I've only just moved here 8 months ago and up until 2 weeks ago, I was able to park outside my house. It may have been busy at times but I was still able to park on "Blue" street. Now, because of these new restrictions, I am not.

      Once my 1 year contract is up, I will take this into consideration if I am able to afford to move.

  • oscargamer on 19/12/2018 - 19:19
    +1

    I'm colour blind. Does that help at all?

  • Tech5 on 19/12/2018 - 19:30
    +3

    Fyi, imgur is the standard these days for uploading images

  • whooah1979 on 19/12/2018 - 19:37

    There is no image here.
    http://www.mediafire.com/file/89ltqwyzqci23rz/Screen_Shot_20…

    • AdosHouse on 19/12/2018 - 20:46

      There is, you have to click the download button.

      • whooah1979 on 19/12/2018 - 21:02
        +2

        I don't want to click on a button to download files. Please use imgur or something similar.

        • pegaxs on 19/12/2018 - 23:06
          +3

          Check my post at the top, I have loaded it up there for you to look at. I made the risky click, so you didnt have too. :D

  • redforever on 19/12/2018 - 21:17
    +3

    check out google street view. i can see why it is a problem. If i live in one of those units with the garage exiting alloy lane, I wouldn't be too happy with cars parked outside hindering me entering or exiting my garage.

    As it is a private road, you need to check the by law.

    • blingerz on 19/12/2018 - 23:33

      Theres plenty of space for the occupants to get into their garages. I will take a photo tomorrow morning.

      Bins are also out one night of the week. We are fined by OC $50 if its out on any other night other than bin night.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2018 - 23:49

    Just like wheel clamping you have 2 options pay and get your car back or fight in court which will take months or years without your car.

  • PlasticSpaceman on 20/12/2018 - 07:51

    $590 is excessive so you should be able to go to the body corporare to complain about that as it sounds like they may also be collecting money from the towing company. https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-servi…

    I am also assuming the warning sign says something about only being able to park in designated parking bays.

    Basically at the moment the best you can hope for is getting some of that money back by complaining about it being a revenue generating exercise.

  • hawkeye on 20/12/2018 - 08:01

    Other than the bin area with "NO STANDING" there isn't any signage with no parking or private property.
    Take photos of the tow area you would have to come at them through the strata insurance office bearers liability for authorising an illegal tow.
    I'm in QLD and you'd win hands down after new changes to legislation you'd have to check VIC laws

  • Speckled Jim on 20/12/2018 - 09:14

    The third photo with the bins. What's atop the black pole behind the bins? I assume it's a light.

    If there was no signage indicating "bins only" I wouldn't have paid for recovery and got Police involved for unlawful towing. This is your argument to recover your money.

    Oh, and if you can, move. The complex is badly planned. Management, however good, has no hope of compensating for such.

    • blingerz on 20/12/2018 - 09:36
      +2

      Its a light. There is no sign saying bins only or no standing. Down the road, there is another cutout that says no standing and that's where most people put their bins. I've uploaded some more images.

      • pegaxs on 20/12/2018 - 10:08

        I've uploaded some more images.

        Just a small thank you for using imgur this time ;)

        Take that back. It's a blank page :D

        • Speckled Jim on 20/12/2018 - 10:26

          I see it, with orange 2006 Commie. Plate discernible!

        • blingerz on 20/12/2018 - 10:27
          +1

          Arghh! Fixed re. the photo. How do I upload a video?

    • blingerz on 20/12/2018 - 10:40

      Agree that the complex is badly planned. Will consider my options once my contract is up.

  • WreckTangle on 20/12/2018 - 17:41
    +1

    I thought this would be another post where OP’s parking was clearly in the wrong. But OP might actually have a case here.

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