‘I said I'll report them for insurance fraud; they refunded me straight away': HOA hires towing company to ensure ‘aesthetic’ parking, towing company mess with wrong resident, leading to resident destroying them both

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Apr 2, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

This HOA got more than they bargained for when they hired a towing company to ensure that cars parked fit the 'aesthetic' of their neighborhood. Correct, you read that right; the HOA president decided that parking was not allowed in front of townhomes because they were at the front of the subdivision, and he felt it was 'unsightly' to see cars parked at the curb when he drove by. So the HOA hired a towing company to make sure that cars that dared do so be towed.

What the HOA didn't know (we assume) is that the towing company was committing insurance fraud. It all began to unravel when they attempted to tow OP's car. He's the type of guy who is the opposite of a pushover. He figured out quickly that he was being scammed, and that it was actually illegal to tow his car, so he did some investigating and confronted the towing company with his findings. What ensued was some sweet, petty revenge, both on the towing company and the HOA.

Scroll down to read a detailed account of what happened. For more, here are some wildly unpopular opinions to enjoy judging.

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  • 01
    Font - Revenge on towing company and HOA. I then called up the towing company and told them that if they did not give me a full refund that I would be turning them in for insurance fraud. He cancelled his contract with the HOA.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/shamalonight 1 day ago Revenge on towing company. Allow me to share a win. was visiting my girlfriend at her townhouse. The townhouse is at the 4 entrance of the neighborhood, and not far from it is a sign warning of cars being towed. On the sign was the name and number of the towing service. In the section of this subdivision with the townhomes there are a few clearly designated no parking zones, but no such designation out in front of her townhome where I was parked.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 03
    Font - About 8:30 that evening while we were upstairs kicked back watching tv in her bed, I suddenly saw some lights flashing through the upstairs window, and then a knock on the front door. When I looked out I saw my car hooked up to a tow truck with the driver just standing there waiting for me to come down. He had pulled up, hooked up my car and then turned on his lights rather than pulling into the neighborhood with his lights on.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 04
    Font - I went downstairs to protest him hooking up my car and pointed out that it wasn't in a no parking zone. He then informed me that according to HOA rules the spaces in front of all townhomes were no parking zones even if they weren't marked as such. I found out later that this was true although my girlfriend was never aware of such a rule.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 05
    Font - He then offered to drop my car if I paid a $90 drop fee. This was his schtick, collect drop fees without actually having to tow a car. In the short three weeks that he had the contract for this subdivision he had already hit numerous homes in the neighborhood with this scam. Then this guy made a mistake.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 06
    Font - In his attempt to be seen as the "good guy" just doing his job harassing people late in the evening for quick scores, he offers to write on the ticket that he towed the car to the townhouse from a nearby interstate instead of writing it up as a drop fee for illegal parking. In this way, according to him, I could turn it into my auto insurance to get them to cover it. That way I could get my money back from the scam he was running collecting drop fees from unsuspecting homeowners. I accept
    via u/shamalonight
  • 07
    Font - Being rousted out of bed and having an angry confrontation with a tow truck driver seemed just a bit more tolerable knowing I would be able to get my money back. Still, the situation just eats at you and it's hard to let it go in the moment, even if eventually you are getting your money back.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 08
    Font - The next part of the story involves a wealthy land owner who developed his family's 300 acre farm to create this subdivision, and who continued to live in a more affluent elite section of the subdivision, and maintained a position as the head of the HOA that created this rule of no parking zones that existed only on paper, and that had been added years after the townhomes had been built with their clearly marked no parking zones. Sorry for that run on sentence, but I won't go any further
    via u/shamalonight
  • 09
    Font - for the sake of brevity which may seem a bit ironic at this point. Let is suffice to say that this HOA and the jas running it are not much loved, and what took place between me and this towing company was a small victory over them also.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 10
    Font - Anyhow, the next morning I began thinking more clearly about the night before, even if I was still a bit p ed. I wanted revenge for the intrusion and the injustice of others wielding power over me. Then it dawned on me that what this driver was doing might be illegal. I called my sister in law who owns an auto insurance company. I wanted to confirm my suspicion that the way this tow truck driver wrote out his towing tickets constituted insurance fraud. She confirmed that I was correct, th
    via u/shamalonight
  • 11
    Font - I then called up the towing company and told them that if they did not give me a full refund that I would be turning them in for insurance fraud. Fifteen minutes after I made that phone call the tow truck driver that so kindly offered to drop my car for $90 dollars showed up at the townhouse with cash to give me a full refund. He then went to several other homes on that street and gave refunds to other people he had extorted in the three weeks that he had had the contract for that subdivi
    via u/shamalonight
  • 12
    Font - of the street, the entrance of the subdivision, got out and removed the sign with tow company's name and number. He cancelled his contract with the HOA. After word got around about what had happened and why, it took the HOA six months to find another towing company to take the contract.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 13
    Font - The reason the HOA under that guy's rule had changed regulations to not allow parking in front of townhomes was simply that the townhomes were at the front of the subdivision, so he and a few other wealthy home owners thought it unsightly to have cars parked at the curb when they drove by. That's it, they simply didn't like the aesthetics, and their sensibilities took precedence over the rights of the lesser inhabitants of his fiefdom.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 14
    Font - Had I actually lived in that neighborhood I think I would have taken more drastic measures up to and including getting this tow company's license revoked, and maybe even jail time for the truck driver, not to mention creating a bigger legal headache for the HOA. My girlfriend however, is an immigrant and fearful of American power structures, so she insisted I be satisfied with a refund which is a win against corruption she would have never dreamt of in her home country. I abided by her wi
    via u/shamalonight
  • 15
    Font - She found a new home, an actual house, in a different neighborhood with an HOA that operates with an actual bare minimum of interference with residents, and is very pleased with the way it is run.
    via u/shamalonight
  • 16
    Font - +2 - 1 day ago We'll played on your part. The word fraud is an attention getter Fast_Fee517 157 Reply Share More-Jacket-9034 +2 - 1 day ago The government is really just starting to crack down on predatory towing. So glad you got a little bit of revenge on one of them. Far too many people have been totally sc ed over by these towing companies. Reply Share 93
    via u/Fast_Fee517, u/More-Jacket-9034
  • 17
    Font - _my_choice_ +2 - 1 day ago We are having a severe problem with it in my city right now. There are articles in the local news on a fairly regular basis. 17 Reply Share Svete_Brid +2 - 23 hr. ago Where I live (San Francisco) the government is the one doing the predatory towing. Reply Share 17
    via u/_my_choice_, u/Svete_Brid
  • 18
    Font - S2 (d) CompletelyPuzzled • 1 day ago Stay diligent against the HOA though, they can easily become power-hungry monsters. Reply Share 28 The_Schizo_Panda - 1 day ago Every reddit story starting with, "so the HOA.." 12 Reply Share
    via u/CompletelyPuzzled, u/The_Schizo_Panda
  • 19
    Font - CoderJoe1 +4. 1 day ago Sweet, amazing victory. I guess you towed him. 53 shamalonight OP 1 day ago - Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. Reply Share 13 Reply Share Ok-Beelzebub666 - 1 day ago He had me hooked 11 Reply Share
    via u/CoderJoe1, u/shamalonight, u/Ok-Beezlebub666
  • 20
    Font - _my_choice_ +2 - 1 day ago Aesthetics is the major focus of HOAs. I would NEVER live in a neighborhood that had an HOA. Unless someone is going to pay my mortgage, they are not going to tell me what I can and cannot do with my own property which I AM paying the mortgage on or have paid for outright. Reply Share 5
    via u/_my_choice_
  • 21
    Font - LostCause666946 +1. 1 day ago Hell, I still would have turned the driver in for insurance fraud. 4 Reply Share RevRagnarok +2.2 hr. ago Same! "Oh, and he gave me back my money, is that admitting guilt and he knew it was wrong?" 2 Reply Share
    via u/LostCause666946, u/RevRagnarok
  • 22
    Font - Candid Age6072 - 5 hr. ago I hate tow companies so much. My friend got his car stolen from our college it ended up in an impound lot almost an hour away. They said they were going to charge him like $200 a day to hold it so he told them I'm going down to get it that day which they said was fine. I drove him down and the lady there is not happy to see us and keeps saying you need to come back tomorrow just trying to scam more money out of him. We end up waiting down there another two hours
    via u/Candid_Age6072
  • 23
    Font - Monkey Breath66 +2. 12 hr. ago Here's what's probably going to be an unpopular take. You admitted that under the HOA rules you were illegally parked. The tow truck operator under contract was towing your car. He offered you the option to pay the hook fee instead of getting towed. He then made the mistake of bending the rules to write it up so that you could be reimbursed by your insurance. After doing your investigation behind the rules you discover that The rules were put in place by a p
    via u/MonkeyBreath66

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FAILS car-parking hoa neighbors toxic-neighborhood fine towing company towing-service insurance fraud petty revenge refund-fines HOA-president parking HOA-rules
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