Townehouse of Amherst Condominiums

As a resident of the Townhouses, there is a policy that cars can be towed within 24 hours of a storm ending. A few weeks ago my car was towed from my spot. I received no call to ask me to move it. They have never asked me to move my car during or after a previous storm. It was more than 24 hours after the snow stopped. They had already plowed the driveway/parking multiple times. My car was towed at my expense, and then was charged a total of $250 to get it back from [redacted]'s Towing. The Townhouses are my home, and they are predatory towards their customers since the majority are college aged and students. The employees in the office were condicending, refused to give me the information for the property manager, and told me to write a letter for the board of trustees, which is not the legal process. The person doing that refused to give me his name. I got the number of the property manager, but he never called back.Product_Or_Service: Parking PassDesired SettlementI need a refund of my $250. I need parking information to be better available and visible for tenants. There needs to be a warning process for towing cars. The employees of Townhouses Apartments of Amherst need to respect their customers.Business Response Townehouse of Amherst is a condominium complex that is managed by TMA, and governed by its Master Deed and By-Laws. The person making the complaint is a tenant of an owner of one of the condominiums at Townehouse of Amherst.All tenants must sign an approved lease in order to be a resident. A copy of the lease can be found at: http://www.townehouseofamherst.com/XXXXXX Townhouse Of Amherst Lease.pdf.You will notice in section 7 of the lease the parking regulations. In order to save space and time, we will only refer to most pertinent ..." or impeding snow removal or access or parked on the grass , may be towed atthe owner's expense without additional notice."...In addition, each tenant is given a handbook for Townehouse of Amherst. The handbook can be found at: http://www.townehouseofamherst.com/Townehouse handbook 2008.pdf.The parking policy is written clearly on pages 9+10, with the snow removal policy on page 10.You will also notice at the bottom of the lease, that each tenant signs that they received the handbook, so that there is no question that the household has the information.In addition to these references, at the beginning of each Winter season, our office staff hand delivers a written notice to every condo. door explaining the parking rules and snow removal policy. We also post the same letter on our office door (which is on site near the mailboxes).Before we tow any vehicle that is impeding snow removal, we knock on every condo. door and ask residents to move their vehicles so that we can clean up the parking spaces.If we still find vehicles in the way, we look at the parking sticker and call the vehicle owner to move their car.If after these attempts, the vehicle is still impeding snow removal, it is towed.Even though we are not required to knock on doors or make calls, we make every effort possible not to tow cars.Unfortunately, in a few cases vehicles need to be towed so that the snow can be removed appropriately for residents safety.You should note that the person making the complaint has other people living with him and they followed the rules and moved their vehicles appropriately.As far as resolution, we are not sure why the complainant is requesting $250.00 as that is in excess of what [redacted]'s Towing charges to tow vehicles from Townehouse premises.Although we are not pleased that his vehicle was towed, as we NEVER like to tow residents vehicles, it was necessary to ensure the safety of the complex. It is unfortunate that the complainant did not have the information necessary to move his vehicle properly, but it was not for lack of effort from management.We cannot see any evidence from the information provided that we were wrong towing this vehicle, so we will not return the $250.00 he is requesting.Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond.Property Manager,Townehouse of Amherst