Denial of parking permits prompts review

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: N. Observer

CARRBORO - A policy that bans cars with scratched paint from a low-rent apartment complex might not stand up to a legal challenge, some experts said.
This week, management at Abbey Court apartments started towing vehicles that lack proper parking permits. Management is denying stickers for vehicles with "conspicuous body damage," which they say includes dents, scratches, faded paint, damaged stripping along seams or cracked glass.

Dozens of tenants have protested. Some have ordered employees from Chandler's Towing away from their vehicles. At least one has thrown a bottle at a tow truck.

The situation has community leaders' attention. Carrboro police have urged Tar Heel Cos., the property manager, to stop towing.

"These are not junk cars!" Alderwoman Jacquie Gist wrote in an e-mail message to other officials. "Several of the cars I saw that had been denied permits looked fine -- it took close inspection to find anything wrong. One had a few inches of side stripping loose and was denied a parking permit."




Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/1146872.html

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Those guys like to hit the poor, hope the local car dealers are not involve in trying to sell new cars.

[sasquatch]

1. Hating on the poor is a tradition I think we need to end

[AlphaCentauri]

13. Cultural or greedy tradition?

[MidwestTransplant]

2. They guy is probalby trying to sell the bldg. and wants to make it look nice.

[cullen2382]

3. These are low rent apartments!!!!

Damn, what do they expect people who have to live in low rent apartments to be driving, Mercedes???

[Anexio]

5. I didn't see that in the article

They are condo's not apartments.

The owners may be renting the space out as apartments but the tenants still have to live by the rules of the Abby Court Condo Association.

Looks like the courts will decide this one.

[intheflow]

9. Re-read the first sentence in the OP.

This is a low-income apartment complex.

[TroubleMan]

4. Many towing companies and low rent apartments make a lot of money towing cars.

When I lived in Virginia, we used to call Ideal Towing "I Steal Towing." In certain apartment complexes if you didn't have a sticker or put up a guest pass, they'd tow you within 1-5 minutes of parking there. They would follow people around, wait for them to park, and as the guest would go to the house to get the guest pass to hang on the mirror, they would be towing you. You literally had to have somebody watch your car so that you could go get the guest pass or your car would be towed.

Also they were caught towing cars with guest passes and then taking out the guest passes later (saying it was never in there). To get your car out, it cost between $100 - $200, and that was in 2000. I Steal Towing had a this little racket going all over Prince William County, and made a ton of money stealing peoples cars and holding them for ransom.

[NashVegas]

7. The Security Company at My Old Complex

Took it upon themselves to tow my car out because the license plates had expired. I did get a warning. But here's the thing: I always parked with my front end visible (no plates there). There was something in the lease about unregistered cars, so knowing they were getting out of their vehicle and going around to the back to check screams 'kick back' to me.

Anyway, when I went to pick it up at the *private* compound where it was stored, I got into a conversation with a young man whose car had been towed from a parking lot next door to where his mechanic *told him* to leave it for repair. He was never notified and filed a missing vehicle report. Two months later they got a call from the police because the lot owner, by law, had to notify police when they were going to auction a car.

The car in question? It looked kind of like this, but nicer.

http://image.lowridermagazine.com/f/wicho/7221887+w450+h338+cr0+re1+ar1/1962-ford-galaxie-500-1962-ford-galaxie-500-wichos-toy.jpg

[L0oniX]

6. Maybe they should have the tow trucks towed away too as I am sure they have scratches and dents too.

DOH !

[XemaSab]

8. Remind ME never to park there

Management is denying stickers for vehicles with "conspicuous body damage," which they say includes dents, scratches, faded paint, damaged stripping along seams or cracked glass.

I got 5/5. :D

[Tab]

10. I have three cars. None would likely be allowed to park there, according to their rules.

One is a Saab 9-3 wagon that has a small dent in the driver's door - but conspicuous - and a shattered left-side mirror. I can replace the mirror easily enough, but will probably have to live with the dent. Perils of working in Boston metro area.

My wife drives a mini-van that has taken more than its share of lumps. It's not that old, but it's a little unwieldy.

I also have for fun a little MG, but it now has a nasty scratch on the side. I can't afford to get it repainted right this moment.

These are all nice cars. Am I to understand I couldn't park them at that place?

Or is this just aimed at old Chevy's and Ford beaters that cost $500? Because if someone has a BMW Z-3, with a scraped side, and someone else has a '82 Ford Galaxy with a scraped side, and the Beamer can park, and the Ford can't, then that's discrimination.

[freeplessinseattle]

11. damn, I'd be screwed.

huge dent from an accident two years ago, and various little scratches and dings. I'm so ashamed:(

[quiet.american]

12. Everywhere you turn, somebody wants a piece of you -- it's getting depressing. nt

[Javaman]

14. I lived in a place like this a while back..

The long and short of it is this: the property manager and the towing company had a deal going with pay offs and kick backs. They got a little greedy, someone complained to the right person. both moron manager and tow truck operator got canned.

it's a fairly common crooked practice from what I have heard afterward.