Posted on 01/04/2019 11:54:04 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
As humans, we sometimes make contract agreements that don’t seem to be a big deal or like they’ll become intrusive in our lives down the road—like this Dallas apartment complex’s “fix your car or get towed” policy, no matter how minor the damage. Then, like being backed into out of nowhere, reality hits.
Dallas-Forth Worth news station CBS 11 reports that Sontlux Sukhavachana, who has what looks to be a previous-generation Chevrolet Traverse with a dent in it, said he got a notice on his car recently saying the company that owns the apartment complex he lives in, Fath Properties, planned to tow it. The dent is moderate; it’s not particularly small, but it’s also not something the average passerby would likely care much about.
But at Sukhavachana’s complex, the “fix your car or get towed” rule isn’t about the severity of the car damage—it’s about whether there’s damage at all. Here’s the wording on the agreement, via the Fath Properties website:
One of our unique policies is the Vehicle Condition Agreement that is part of our Rental Criteria and an Addendum to the Lease Agreement. Amazingly it came from our applicants consistently telling us the first thing they looked at were the cars in the parking lot. If the cars were disabled, heavily dented, rusted, unsightly, they assumed the property was poorly operated and their neighbors would be unacceptable. We understand that your automobile is a personal item and as such is your right to drive whatever you want, however from our research, this is something most good customers requested and we do have the right to provide.
If you truly want a clean, quiet, well-maintained place to live and will abide by the rules, I believe we are your best option. If you do not care and do not wish to follow the rules, then you will not be happy living with us.
The specific section on the vehicle agreement ends with the statement that Fath believes “a car that is not well maintained detracts from the overall appearance of [its] customer’s home.”
That agreement, which CBS 11 reports is part of the lease paperwork, could cost Sukhavachana’s one-income family a lot more than a repair payment. He told the outlet fixing the car would mean not being able to make next month’s rent.
Sukhavachana, who has three children and whose family relies on one car, said Fath Properties is “expecting tenants who barely have enough money to make ends meet to invest money in cosmetic damages.” He also claimed the company is “not very motivated to repair things or make the apartment look good,” but wants residents to keep their cars free of damage. Certain Yelp reviews found by CBS 11 supported that statement.
Here’s more on his situation and others, from CBS 11:
“They’re discriminating against people who don’t have very much income,” Sukhavachana said.
Renters sign paperwork agreeing to upkeep their cars as part of their lease agreement.
But renters, including Sukhavachana, claim the rubric is subjective.
One renter said he got his car towed over chipped paint. Another resident said his car was towed because his car was painted two different colors.
CBS 11 reports that Fath Properties owns 30 apartment complexes across the U.S., and that all of them have the same “vehicle condition agreement.” When the outlet reached out to the company for an interview, a spokesperson declined but pointed the outlet toward the website section quoted above.
Here’s part of the statement, via CBS 11:
I don’t feel it is necessary to speak with you directly as this policy has been around for close to forty years and has been abided by and appreciated by the vast majority of our residents. Our policy is clearly communicated to all residents prior to move-in, and the reasoning behind our policy can be found at our website, in the section titled “A Word From Our Owner.”
CBS 11 reports that Sukhavachana got an extension on the tow in December, and that he now has until Friday to get the dent fixed—a deadline CBS 11 reports he “can’t afford to face.”
That could very well be true, the contract wording could be too vague and subject to interpretation.
He may very well win in court then.
And the apartment complex would then amend all their renters contracts with more precise and concrete terms and get rid of the ambiguity.
That is so not true. Not in Texas. Apartment complexes tow vehicles on a daily basis. It's private property. They do as they want.
"...Stands With a Fist or Wind in his Hair..."
Ten Bears was always my favorite. With a name like that, no one will mess with you.
I'd go looking around the parking lots....and find 10 cars that have NOT been threatened.
If he can afford to rent, he can afford to fix his car.
He knew what the rental policy was before he moved in. If he doesn’t like it, he’s free to find another place to live.
Spite them by blocking up a big old rusted ‘70s car in the front yard.
I doubt it has anything to do with discrimination or racism. Rather I suspect it is entirely about money. It’s always about money and you need to follow the money trail.
More to the point, I believe the landlord has an agreement with the towing company for kickbacks and deliberately put the car maintenance issue into every rental agreement so they can arbitrarily tow anybody’s car for any reason, and they get 50% of the tow fee.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the property owner and towing company(ies) are owned by memebers of the same family or clan (think India).
Suggest the victims (tenants) get a good lawyer and file and class action lawsuit.
JMHO.
LAV
Ah.. the stock “ conservative” response I was expecting to see somewhere on this thread. I am so over this line of thinking I don’t know where to begin. I’m just at a place right now where fighting back against petty injustice is way more important to me than any high minded principle someone on a conservative website can regurgitate at me. In other words, I literally don’t care about the contract. It needs to be fought and defeated. I identify as an American, not a good little Republican.
This bend over and just take it attitude really makes my skin crawl.
I live in a property that was bought out by Fath. In short, they suck. They enforce the car policy but then rented out to section 8 to fill units. So now I get weekly emails from the office (which is never open their posted hours because the management comes in late or takes off early) berating the tenants for leaving patios dirty, blocking entrances, not cleaning up after their dogs and dictating exactly when and how Christmas decorations can be up and demanded they be taken down no later than this weekend.
It’s like living in a dorm now and I’ll be out as soon as I can find a house.
Finally, a logical response.
The man obviously has no collision insurance.
I would never *read* and *sign* that lease agreement unless I was pretty darn sure I could fix my car if it were dented (and I really wanted to live there). Have a backup plan folks.
I suspect the man was living paycheck to paycheck when he moved in. I feel for his difficulty, but he’s legal adult who signed off on this. He should have rented somewhere lease.
If every sob story is sufficient to break a legal contract, then all contracts are worthless. Further down the slippery slope we go.
PS: He can go to an AutoZone and buy a car cover for under $50. A car cover say “I care about my car”. I bet they would not object to that.
In Texas, if you don’t have a dent in your pickup, you become an accident magnet. His dent will serve to keep insurance rates down.
Right. And this complex is not living up to their end of the bargain. They should focus more on cleaning and fixing their filthy and broken buildings.
Park it in the street outside the complex and walk home. The apartments in San Jose are deliberately overloaded with illegal aliens and that’s what they all do.
I think if he just cleaned the off the scuff marks or touched up the paint he’d be fine. I’ve got hail dents on my car that they’ve never complained about because the paint is fine and the dents are only noticeable close up (and if the sun hits them just right)
So are the cars. This is a contract dispute. The apartment has to have a court ruling that the tenant is in breach before confiscating their vehicle. They can’t evict the tenant without a court order. I don’t believe they can tow the car without one either. Maybe they’ve been getting away with it for a long time, but towing a vehicle that is in compliance with the law is theft.
Unless there is a law that gives landlords rights to tow ugly vehicles without a court order, I think they may be in trouble if they do it.
Whether the car is or is not in compliance with a rental contract is a question for the courts. If the landlord thinks the tenant is in breach, they can file a case with the courts. This is why we have courts.
Its not like the landlords came up with this yesterday.
They have had it in their rental contracts for forty years, and because this one guy cries about it, the landlords are evil.
You are the libtard snowflake response who says when one person has a problem with something, that it must be changed to accomodate them.
In a later response I said if the contract terms are too vague he could very well win in court. And the apartment complex would probably amend contracts to put in more precise and less vague wording so that its spelled out more clearly for both sides and no one feels picked on or singled out by claiming subjective enforcement.
Yes I agree towing is over the line. What would seem more in the realm of what they could do is attach a nuisance fee of some kind to the renter for breach of contract. But again, not seeing the contract, they would also really need specific concrete terms of what constitutes that, if they are too vague and broad it won’t stand up in court.
When that something is absolute and total BS, then yes, absolutely. Nice deflection though. The guy who chooses to fight is the “snowflake”. Yeah, right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.