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Note that the following answers are based on typical situations. The extent of enforcement
and thus, our answers, may vary depending on the property owner’s own rules. Please
contact us if you have any additional questions.
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- Why do we have to have these rules?
- Contrary to what you may feel, living in a Homeowner Association that
is governed by Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (usually known as CC&R’s)
is a great advantage which ensures the quality of life of the entire association
by encouraging compliance to these rules.
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- What are Board Members for? (Have they no lives? Why do they impose these
rules on us? Etc.)
- Most often, board members are accused of being heartless dictators on
a power trip (or worse). You may be surprised to know that Board Members are also
homeowners, just like you, who lives in your association. Contrary to what you may
believe, Board Members are under legal obligation to enforce the association’s CC&Rs.
Not only are they volunteering their time and family time but they are also in charge
of the entire community’s maintenance and community life. While you may think he/she
is up to no good, chances are he/she is quietly helping you by increasing the
property value of his entire neighborhood.
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- You are not cops! You can’t cite me or tow me! (…or can you?)
- PATROL MASTERS enforces the rules and regulations of your homeowners
association, building management or property administration on their behalf. We
do not replace or take jurisdiction away from the local police department. We never
claim to do so. We rather enforce the rules and regulations that the homeowners
association, building management or property owners and administrators ask us to
enforce; rules and regulations over which the police department or city governments
have no jurisdiction.
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- Does the Board have legal authority to hire a private company to impose
their rules on us?
- According to CVC section 22658. (a) Except as provided in subdivision
(b), an “association,” as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1351 of the Civil
Code, of a common interest development, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section
1351 of the Civil Code, may cause the removal of a vehicle parked on that property.
For more info, please check the entire CVC section 22658.
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- I did not know the rules, and my vehicle was towed, how can I get my tow
charges refunded?
- Ignorance of laws, rules or regulations is no effective defense against
it. Every homeowner is given a copy of the neighborhood CC&R’s and parking regulations
upon Escrow. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to read these rules, understand
them and abide by them. That being said, we understand how upsetting it can be to
have your main means of transportation towed. Having a vehicle towed is not something
that we do lightly and we take care to make sure that we do it properly and we document
all pertinent evidence. Unless you can prove that it was towed wrongfully, we cannot
refund your towing charges.
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- My guest did not know the rules, he was just visiting and he was towed.
Can he get refunded?
- Unfortunately no. It is the homeowners responsibility to inform their
guests of the parking rules and regulations, making sure they know when, where and
how to park when they visit.
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- I was parked in front of my home and my vehicle was towed for a fire lane
violation. There were no signs posted! Can I claim this as a bad tow and have it
refunded?
- No. According to the California Vehicle Code Section 22658, the association
is only required to have one fire lane parking sign per each entrance to the community
only.
“22658. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), an “association,” as defined
in subdivision (a) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code, of a common interest development,
as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code, may cause the removal
of a vehicle parked on that property to the nearest public garage if all of the
following requirements are satisfied:
(1) A sign not less than 17 by 22 inches in size with lettering not less than one
inch in height appears at each entrance to the common interest development and contains
both of the following:
(A) A statement that public parking is prohibited and all vehicles not authorized
to park on the common interest development will be removed at the owner’s expense.
(B) The telephone number of the local traffic law enforcement agency. The sign may
also indicate that a citation may be issued for the violation.
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- I don’t have a copy of the parking rules or CC&R’s, whom do I call to
get a copy?
- Please contact your Homeowner Association management company.
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- My vehicle was not parked in the red zone, like you said, and it was illegally
towed. How do I get reimbursed?
- To avoid this type of issue, although we are not required by law to take
pictures of vehicles we tow, we do take them. We submit the report, the history
of the infraction and all pertinent evidence of the tow to the authority that manages
your property the same day it occurs. This report includes a picture of the car
that was towed and documents the infraction. To get a copy of that information,
please contact your property management company.
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- My car was not stored but was still cited by your officer. Why?
- The statute of what constitutes parking and what constitutes storage depends
on the Homeowners Association’s CC&R and may vary from case to case but having a
vehicle parked in a common area for extended periods of time is not desired by any
Homeowners Association. It is for this reason that most associations require that
we monitor and track common parking areas for vehicles that appear to be immobile
for a period of time. The citation you received is nothing but a courtesy notice
alerting you to the fact that your vehicle is now being monitored. After a specified
amount of time (which may be anything between 24 to 96 hours, according to your
neighborhood’s CC&Rs) the patrol officer will check back on the vehicle. If still
unmoved, the vehicle will be considered to be in storage and subject to be towed
at the owner’s expense. If according to our monitoring system the vehicle has been
moved during the monitoring period, the citation is no longer valid and by your
ruling CC&Rs, your vehicle will not be towed.
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- My vehicle is just a small truck that I use for work and yet it was cited
for being a commercial vehicle. Why?
- Regardless of the size, make or model, most property administrators define
commercial vehicles as any vehicle that has (but not limited to) some of the following
characteristics:
- Is a passenger bus
- Is equipped with exposed or visible racks, fixtures and compartments for the transport
of tools or items used in performing a commercial service
- Has built-in or detachable ladders
- Has built-in tool-boxes or carries tool boxes and other construction tools and materials
on a regular basis
- Is over 3/4 tons in curb weight
- Has visible logos or lettering for commercial or advertising purposes
- Has visible company names for commercial or advertising purposes
- Has visible telephone numbers for commercial or advertising purposes
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- What is considered a recreational vehicle?
- Most property owners define recreational vehicles as (but not limited
to) vehicles that has some of the following characteristics:
- Is a motor home or RV
- Is a trailer of some sort, usually designed to transport recreational equipment
- Is a watercraft
- Is an aircraft
- Is a cab-over camper
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- What is the Inventory and what is an Inventory Window?
- Some associations require that we keep track of how many times certain
vehicles park in guest spaces to avoid excessive use and abuse. With this in mind,
when required by the property managers, our officers will keep track of vehicles
that frequent the common parking area by noting their license plates on a nightly
basis. The authority that sets the maximum amount of days a particular car can overnight
in the common or guest area is the property manager and it is usually but not always
of 4 days within a 30-day period. Your CC&R should specify this limit. If a vehicle
has reached the limit, a courtesy notice will be issued alerting the vehicle owner
that the vehicle has exceeded the days allowed in guest parking. If the vehicle
is found again within the Inventory Window, the vehicle might be subject to towing
or ticketing, according to your CC&R. The Inventory window is the look back period
for determining inventory, citation and towing status based on previous inventories
and citations.
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- My car was already towed once. My history is now a blank slate once again,
right?
- This depends on the CC&R that your homeowner’s association or property
manager establishes but more often than not, a vehicle being towed does not wipe
the slate clean. If, for example, the rules of your property state that you may
only park a vehicle in a common area for a maximum of 4 days every 30 day period
under penalty of towing or ticketing, you will be either ticketed or towed on your
fifth infraction, according to your CC&R. If you the vehicle is found in violation
a sixth or seventh time during the hypothetical 30 day period, (the ticket or inventory
window) your vehicle will be towed over and over again.
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- What is a ticket or inventory window?
- The ticket or inventory window it is the look-back period of time for
determining repeat citation or towing status and is based on previous citations.
Most ticket windows are on a “continuing” mode, not calendar windows. For example,
if your vehicle was first cited in March your CC&R specifies a ticket window of
180 days, then that citation is a valid and will count toward future actions against
this vehicle until September.
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- Q: Both my car and my neighbor’s car were in violation but my car towed and
my neighbor’s was not. Why? What’s going on, here?
- We do not discriminate against anyone or play favorites. Our patrol officers
do not know who is who or which car belongs to which person and strive to enforce
all rules evenly, across the board, as specified by your ruling CC&R. If your vehicle
was towed and your neighbor’s vehicle was not, it is probable that there are other
circumstances to which you are not privy to. Some such factors might be that (but
are not limited to) the vehicle being safe-listed, having a permit you are not aware
of or – in case PATROL MASTERS is not deployed on a around-the-clock basis
- the vehicle was parked after the patrol officer left the property. Unfortunately,
while you can obtain the reasons and circumstances why your vehicle was ticketed
from your property management authority, for privacy issues, we cannot release information
such as why one vehicle was ticketed and another was not.
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- Q: What is a safe list?
- Safe-listing is a practice that some associations engage in to prevent
certain vehicles from getting cited or towed. This is not an exemption from ruling
CC&Rs but rather an alternate set of rules which allows for more lenient parking
restrictions. Typically, this measure is paired with a safe-list inventory window
so as to prevent misuse or abuse. When implemented, safe-listed vehicles are (typically)
allowed to use a common parking space up to 10 times in any 180-day period instead
of (typically) just 4 times per any 30 day period. This practice is not applicable
to every association and your property management authority may not support safe-listing.
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- Why didn’t you just knock on my door instead of towing my car?
- While this may feel like the most logical, courteous and effective measure,
this system does not work for several reasons. Past experience across the entire
industry indicates that while undoubtedly good natured, it backfires and rather
than increase parking compliance, it drastically decreases it. Some of the reasons
why we do not simply knock on your door and notice you personally is that once this
practice is adopted, the deterrent of a towing action is eliminated, which in turn
leads to rampant parking violations. Also, since our recording actions take place
during evenings, our well-meaning officers have been both physically and verbally
attacked for attempting to warn the proprietors of the vehicle that we would tow
their vehicle unless they complied. So, to avoid any confrontations, enforce established
parking rules and get maximum results, we issue notices, tickets and we carry out
towing actions but we do not knock on doors.
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- Q: What is a parking permit?
- This feature is popular with office-buildings that offer parking spaces,
somewhat popular in homeowner associations depending on the scarcity of parking
spots and security concerns and nigh-inexistent in shopping centers and malls. It
is usually issued in places where parking spaces are a premium and restricted. These
types of permits are becoming popular among residential properties nowadays since
it is a great tool to enforce parking discipline among residents and avoid parking
abuses. In some cases a parking permit is associated with a specific parking space
that is issued and reserved just for you. Failure to comply with the parking rules
or properly display your permits will usually provoke either immediate fining and/or
towing of your vehicle. In cases in which you are issued a specific parking space,
failure to park within that same parking space (even if you were parked in the space
right next to it) is an offense. Parking permits come in many forms, shapes and
sizes but usually take the form of hang tags to be placed in the arm of your rear-view
mirror or actual stickers which adhere to the inside of your windshield.
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- Q: How do I get a parking permit?
- This depends largely upon the property management authority as they may
either wish to keep control of permit issuance and ask PATROL MASTERS to
simply enforce parking regulations or allow PATROL MASTERS to fully manage
all aspects of parking on their behalf. If your homeowners association is in charge
of issuing parking permits, you may wish to get in touch with them. If we are managing
the process, please contact us.
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