I moved to Houston six years ago and became the caregiver to my mom who passed away last December. I rented an apartment and have lived in that same apartment for the six years and signed a new 24 page lease last October. On the 12th of this month they announced new parking rules and demanded all lease holders report to the office to sign new 'parking agreements' and provide them with vehicle registration and proof of insurance. A portion of the new rules states that visitors will not be allowed to park on the premises except in front outside the gates. Note:There are seven spots there and the community has 396 apartments.
We have assigned parking and some unassigned throughout the complex. I have had the same assigned spot for the six years I'm here. Visitors could always park in those spots that were unassigned, towards the back of the unit which is where I live, nowhere near the now allowed visitor parking (if you could by chance find one).
I objected to the new rules primarily due to the 'no visitor' stance and when the manager refused to reconsider my pleas I wrote a letter to them asserting that this was a breach of lease and pointed out that my few visitors are elderly and it is unconscionable to insist visitors walk that far should they be lucky and find one of the few spots . And there is no parking on either of the two cross streets. I got no response. I've made several more attempts to get the issue resolved to no avail.
Yesterday they gave me a final warning with a sticker placed on my car parked while parked in my assigned spot and told me my car would be towed on Friday because I had refused to sign the new parking 'agreement'. Never mind not having guests, now they are telling me I can't park in my very own spot because I have refused to sign their new agreement.
I am the first to admit there is a parking problem but I consider their attempts to solve the problem misguided, unfair and not thought out. And they caused the problems!
They are punishing good people who did not cause any of the issues like myself who have only parked in their assigned spots.
Please allow me to explain how management itself caused these very problems.The parking problems have some history.
The management here has a pattern of creating problems and changing rules per their whim and $$. These apartments were advertised boasting their shuttle service to grocery stores and the mall ( a Major Mall- owned by the the same owners of the apartment complex, .....more about that later) and enticed folks to move here who had no cars or a single car that the breadwinner drove to work. They then cancelled the shuttle service leaving residents no choice but to get more cars, giving them no consideration for the change in policy. Indeed, I moved here and did without a car 'till I found it impossible to live in Houston without one. I could get by nicely without a car in NY and NJ. They had public transportation that I dearly miss.
There's never a problem parking in the daytime and unassigned spots go largely unoccupied. It's nighttime when everyone comes home that the parking is tight and occupants complain that they cannot get a parking spot. Previously they gave assigned parking based on unit size... the two bedroom units got two spots. They changed that. Now, although I have a two bedroom I get only one because I am the only one on the lease while the same size unit gets two if they have two people on the hook.
Interesting that they put a Warning Sticker on my car yesterday, in the daytime, while it was parked in my assigned spot and still has the parking permit they gave me last fall. I noticed last night while I was walking my dog that there were no warnings on any of the cars parked in the unassigned areas although most did not have 'new' permits. And please realize that it is the nighttime parking that is the problem.
Way to go? Hassle and intimidate tenants who only use their assigned spot and look the other way at the ones that have multiple cars and are causing the problem? I suppose it makes sense in a bizarre sort of way when you consider that these are the same folks who idolize a president that invaded the wrong country.
They announced a new management company not long ago. The truth is they just added a layer to deny responsibility; the owners remained owners. They just inserted additional outsourcing management to allow some more finger pointing and "it's not our fault" while wiping out employee tenure and benefits. Nice guys, eh?
When I objected to their demand to see my 'proof of insurance' and asserted that this was out of bounds, they countered that it was required due to the new towing company they had engaged (My car is insured and my objection was based on my view of them having overreached their authority). These new relationships are always at the tenants expense. They hired a new company to send out rent payment notices and added $2.50 on all of our bills as "processing charge". If there is a problem in the laundry center they say, "That is not us. We have no control over them. You have to deal with the laundry contractor. We have no influence."
Apart from the threat of towing now, they routinely use the threat of credit wipe-out and "you won't be able to get another apartment" if there is a dispute. That is a weighty threat in today's world. And as for what's legal I may as well forget about it. If I could afford legal counsel I'm smart enough to know that even though the law is on my side that doesn't mean I would win. My opponent probably owns most every judge in Texas.
So, although I have only parked in my space and have never even had an over night guest in the six years I'm here, I get further threats and intimidation. What to do? I am looking for a place to move, but if they tow my car I can't even do that! I'm between a rock and a hard place against the big bully.
Thanks for allowing me to vent.