HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 8, 2014
Published: Fri, 08/08/14
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HOA Owner Killed by Tow Truck: Avoid Problems at Your HOA
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In this week's tip, we discuss the tragic case of the Florida HOA
owner who was recently killed while trying to prevent his car
from being towed from in front of his home by the towing company
the HOA had hired to regularly patrol the grounds to remove
parking violators.
It was at the Sienna Greens gated community in Lauderhill that
Elias Konwufine lost his life, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
On Jan. 16, 2014, the married father of three and professor and
associate dean at a local university stopped home. A tutor for
his autistic son had parked in his driveway, so Konwufine
parked behind the tutor, partially on to the sidewalk and into
the swale area, according to the report.
A tow truck contracted by the HOA attempted to tow Konwufine's
car. The driver says Konwufine jumped on the truck's running
board, fell off or jumped off, and was crushed by the tow truck.
The family contends the towing company was permitted to "surf,"
or cruise the grounds and tow cars improperly parked without
on-the-spot notice to owners, reports the Sun-Sentinel.
Our experts have seen thorny tow cases time after time. "One of
the worst is when we towed a board member's wife," recalls
Andrew Schlegel, CCAM(r), executive vice president of community
management for Orange County and Los Angeles at FirstService
Residential in Aliso Viejo, Calif. "Luckily we had pictures. She
told her husband, 'I didn't park there!' We were able to say,
'Well, here's the picture.' Those cell phones do come in handy
sometimes."
Ah, that's nothing. "We had video of a guy who came out with
baseball bat and tried to smash the window of the tow company
truck while his car was being towed," Brad van Rooyen, a
partner at Home Encounter, a Tampa, Fla., company that manages
15 community associations totaling about 3,000 owners. "He had
to be tased and cuffed. But the video showed the car being in
that spot for 30 hours with a green notice sticker on it. On
top of that, the guy turned out not even to be resident of the
community but a guest."
Those war stories are sort of funny to read. But it's not funny
when a dispute turns fatal. The tragedy in Florida didn't have
to happen. Get tips for handling a towing contract safely and
smartly in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1045.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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