Apartments and Snow Plowing

[Stiganator]

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[FDF12389]

I feel for you, I still cant get into my parking lot downtown so Im stuck at work until 10 am, even though I've been up 20+ hours.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

I would bet money that the plow people, tow people, and apartment people all know each other.

 

[Stiganator]

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[Deviant Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
That wouldn't surprise me in the least. There are shady dealing in this place. Let me tell you what.

Whether it was the landscaping people, maintenance, towing service, or mailbox every apartment I've ever lived in had some sort of obvious corruption going on.

I hate apartments and hope to never live in them again. If I were in that type of situation I would at least rent a small house or a basement apartment.

 

[Injury]

What does your lease say in regards to the situation? Is the road a private road or a city road?

Shady or not, if there is no agreement in writing anywhere that you have to move your car if it snows, then they really can't tow you and make you pay to recover your car. But on a similar note, if there is nothing written about whether or not you are even allowed to park your car on their private lot/roads then it's your fault for not having them add those sorts of stipulations before signing a lease. (Granted, I wouldn't expect most people to have thought that much in to it.)

If the roads are city maintained and they just hire a snow plow for the courtesy of their residents, then they can't have your car towed at all... and they might actually get in trouble for having the streets plowed.

As rude as it sounds to do it, the better choice would be either of the following:

- Apartment calls everyone until someone actually answers (so that they have confirmation the message was received) saying what time they need cars moved by.

- Let the plow just bury the cars.

 

[CptCrunch]

Very strange. My apartment complex just plows the main streets, doesn't require us or even asks us to move our cars. Shady situation indeed.

 

[Stiganator]

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[amdskip]

At my last apartment the landlord hadn't thought of snow plowing and we all called him to ask and he said that it was our responsibility to hire someone to do his lot...we raised a storm and kept at him until he hired someone to come do it. We did not have to move our cars. I would be furious about your landlords micromanaging rules.

 

[Scouzer]

Are you kidding? They don't do apartment parking lots here in my part of Canada. Period.

The parking lot is generally impassable for a couple days after a good snowfall.

Same goes for side streets. Not plowed all winter.

 

[Stiganator]

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[PingSpike]

My last apartment complex was pretty good. The plow guys came through at like 7 or so and hit the street inside the complex (bunch of 4 unit townhouses). Then you were suppose to move your car and park in the just plowed street. Then they came back at like 8, and if you'd moved your car they plowed your spot. If they didn't, they just plowed you in. But they were pretty good about now not like piling onto your car if they could get away with it.

They certainly never towed anyone that I was aware of.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: CptCrunch
Very strange. My apartment complex just plows the main streets, doesn't require us or even asks us to move our cars. Shady situation indeed.

Same here at every apartment complex I've lived in. Where the lots were plowed, they only plowed the throughways and left the parking spaces untouched. There'd usually be designated empty spaces at the ends of the alleys for plow buildup (which were marked off for management use year-round anyway).

I'd file a complaint and definitely leave after your lease ends.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
What has been your experiences with apartments and snowplowing? This apartment has its own parking lot and we all have a spot in there. If it snows 2-4 in, but is still snowing they won't plow until the next morning, if it snow 2-4, and stops they plow in the morning, if it snows over 4 in they will plow regardless. They tell us not to use the local weather or depend on the cities snow emergency site. They also want you to be gone by 7:30am if they are going to plow. So basically, you have to get up at 7:30 every day just to see if it snowsed or drifted during the night. Plus there isn't street parking, so where are we supposed to move our cars? Most of us park at a mom and pop place next door, but if they had snow our cars would probably get towed from their as well.

At all my previous apartments, they put a note on the door and in our mailboxes saying, we will be plowing tomorrow so move you vehicles by 10am. The other thing that gets me is that they authorized the plow company to tow. Which is understandable if one person doesn't move their car, but for instance this morning. I woke up at 7:15 to check outside. It had maybe snowed 1 in, but there were some 4 in 'drifts'. I warmed up my car and was getting ready to go, but no one else had moved their cars. So, I figured I'll just watch the window and see if they come then I'll move. So I waited and waited and no one came. So I figured fine. So now 2 hrs later I see the landlady outside talking to a plow guy. I go out to see what the deal is. She said she didn't understand why people didn't move. I pointed out that a) its like 10 below b) it didn't snow 2-4 in. She said it sure looked like it did. She said that from now on the plow company is going to start towing people. So if nobody moves their car when the criterion to moving isn't met, we will all be towed. WTF? At ~$300 a car, that is like $9000 for the lot to be plowed.

ARG!!!

WTF

Plow contractors plow the lots here whether there are cars parked or not.

As for towing cars; that's illegal here. And they can be charged with grand theft.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
This is beginning to sound more and more scammy. What do you recommend I do? Maybe start a petition?

I recommend you check your lease first and foremost and make sure there is nothing written about parking and/or snow removal to begin with. If you've signed and agreed to something that says they can do it, you're SOL.

Also, see if your city's municipal code is online and look up any sections on towing and such.

You can talk to your neighbors if you want but as long as you have a car down there then it doesn't matter what they do... you need to look out for numeral uno.

 

[jiggahertz]

I have a townhouse in a fairly large complex that has a bunch of small parking lots (~8 spaces) next to each building. Most of the units have 1 car garages, but the lots are still pretty full. The main plow guy is really good. He basically goes around a loop in the complex the entire time it's snowing to clear the road, and every so often plow in the lots around cars. He's not out there leaning on his horn, and pulls the snow away from units so it doesn't block in people's garages. I guess he got tired from plowing snow for 24 hours straight, because on Sunday there was a different guy plowing. He didn't really touch the lots, but still a lot better then other places I've been. In my GFs complex the guy drives around, plows everyone in and then leans on his horn for people to come out and move. Then honks his horn and flashes his lights when people don't move fast enough digging out their car.

 

[DrPizza]

I've seen plenty of lots that are plowed while there are still vehicles in them. They simply plow around them. (It's not that hard to do.) If it's not in the lease, then you have to decide if this battle is worth fighting.

 

[Stiganator]

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[TheKub]

Hmm. Last apartment I rented had like 80-85% covered parking the rest open\guest parking. Some times in the morning (7:10ish) there would be a truck plowing the areas between all the carports and the main drive into all the complexes. If there were empty open\guest spots they would clear them out otherwise there was a small crew of people with shovels\snowblowers\quads with plows cleaning the side walks and other misc parking areas. If there wasnt a plow working as I was leaving the lot was plowed when I got home after 5.

As far as I know there was never any notice that you had to move your car though on weekdays I was gone at just about the same time every morning so maybe I missed it.

 

[syee]

In the apartments I've lived in, we've never had to move our cars. They'd run the plows through a couple of times a night if it was snowing heavily. If you pay for the spot, then I really doubt they have any right towing your car since you technically have free reign to do what you want in that spot. I'd definitely give the management folks a hard time if they did that to me.

 

[Jeff7]

When I lived on campus, they'd just plow around cars for the most part.
Once they had everyone move their cars, but that was after more than a month of accumulation every few days, and they wanted to start piling up the snow on the grass behind where some cars were parked. They also wanted to scrape up some of the >1" ice and compacted snow between cars.

Other than that, they plow around.


Makes me glad I have the arrangement I've got now - I have my own parking spot, and it's about 20 feet from the road, maybe less.

 

[TallBill]

Mine gets plowed, no problems.

 

[Stiganator]

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[Stiganator]

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