By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communties
Every few weeks, we see a report of aggressive enforcement of parking restrictions at association-governed communities. The latest report comes from the Denver metro area. Denver7 local news reports that residents of Lakes at Dune Park (Commerce City) and Columbine Lake (Arapahoe County), have been getting the boot from a towing contractor hired by their condo HOAs.
Park It Right works with both associations to enforce parking restrictions in visitor overflow spots and on-street parking. Both communities limit the time any single vehicle can occupy a space — in this case, 48 or 72 hours. Instead of towing vehicles and charging fees for retrieval from angry owners, the company advertises its “non-confrontational” remote-release booting system.
For readers unfamiliar with a “boot,” it’s basically a device that locks the front wheels of a vehicle in place, making it impossible to drive, without first contacting the towing company and paying a fee. When Park It Right receives their fee, they unlock the boot, so the resident can remove the contraption and deposit it in a receptacle somewhere on association property.
The fee to remove the boot is reportedly $370 – $400.
Ouch!
It’s safe to say that no one likes to have their vehicle “booted,” due to the huge inconvenience and cost to get it removed. Instead of residents directly confronting the owner of Park It Right, they are confronting their HOA boards and managers, and taking their story to the local media.
Yeah, that’s better.
The issue is particularly outrageous because residents from two different communities have proof that Park It Right is booting cars that have not exceeded the 48 to 72 hour parking spot time limit.
And, as you’ll see in this first report, there’s some bad attitude coming from the HOA board and its management company. If your car gets booted on a weekend, you have to wait until Monday to complain to management and get the matter resolved, even if you can prove your car was not parked for more than 48 hours.
Unreasonable? Infuriating?
You bet.
Behind these aggressive parking enforcement tactics is yet another example of poor development planning — narrow roads that don’t allow street parking on both sides, and just too many homes and residents and not enough parking spaces.
It provides the perfect opportunity to generate revenue enforcing parking restrictions.
Tenants cry foul over ‘boots,’ overly aggressive parking enforcement at Commerce City condo complex
HOA: Management, Parking companies reputable
COMMERCE CITY, Colo — Parking isn’t just a problem in downtown Denver or in Cherry Creek. It is also a growing issue at apartment and condo communities throughout metro Denver.Two tenants at The Lakes at Dune Park in Commerce City reached out to Contac7 on Saturday, after waking up and finding their vehicles had been booted.
There is high demand for on-street parking in the complex, just off U.S. 85 and 112th Avenue.
Signs posted throughout the complex state that parking is limited to “48 hours,” and that “violators will be booted.”
Aggressive Parking Enforcement
Adriana Trevizo believes parking enforcement has become overly aggressive.
She said residents were initially allowed to park on both sides of the street ringing the complex, but now can only park on one side.
On Saturday morning, Trevizo discovered that her car had been immobilized with a boot.
Read more (Video):
Check out the arrogant remarks from an HOA board member:
Denver7 reached out to Overlook Property Management, Inc. and to Park it Right, but neither entity responded to phone calls seeking comment.
A member of The Lakes at Dune Park Condominium Association told Denver7, “We can definitely prove, more than likely, that she violated it, and you know what? It makes great short-term public fun for you all, but if she didn’t, she’ll be absolutely taken care of.”
When asked if Trevizo will be compensated for lost time since her car was booted over the weekend, Nathan Peterson replied, “She can take anybody to court, and nobody gets paid for lost time. You and I both know that.”
That almost sounds like the HOA board saying “sue us!”
Well, as it turns out, Denver 7 reports that The Lakes at Dune Park Condo Association did relent and refund the money to Trevizo, but only after accusing her of giving her transponder to someone else, to make it appear she was on the highway.
Read about that in this second Denver7 report, which features a homeowner from another HOA neighborhood, Columbine Lakes, where the very same towing operator put a boot on the car of a nurse that works a 9-hour overnight shift, to care for Martha Smith’s disabled husband, Woodrow.
It’s almost as though Park It Right and Columbine Lakes Association assume that the resident is guilty until proven innocent.
Columbine Lakes resident furious that nurse was booted after parking for 9 hours in visitors spot
By Lance Hernandez, Denver7
Posted 6:25 PM, May 23, 2018
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — For the second time in less than a week, residents are complaining about Park it Right’s enforcement policies.
This time, in Arapahoe County.
On Saturday, two Commerce City residents, whose cars were booted at the Lakes at Dune Park, contacted Denver7 to say their cars were immobilized before the 48-hour limit expired.
This Wednesday, Martha Smith, a longtime resident of Columbine Lakes near West Bowles and South Platte Canyon Road, told Denver7 that one of her husband’s nurses was booted after a nine-hour shift.
She said the parking limit in visitors spaces is 72 hours.
“They told her, when she called, that she was parked over seven days,” Smith said. “That’s not true.”
Read more (video):
Do residents and property owners realize that this is the kind of fee-gouging and abuse they sign up for when they move into an association-governed community?