Truck Towed from Legal Spot Due to Parking Lot Restriping

[Ron Gene]

My question involves a towing by the Condminium HOA:
Dallas, Texas, Collin County:
Condominium Complex HOA: (Under Condominum Act of 1987)
Legally parked, Trucked Towed, rims damaged.
Notice to tow put on fence 3 days before tow occurred. Parking lot to be restriped. I was out of town for 1 week.
Never received notice on door, emailed, or mailed to me.
Complex charged me for towing.
Bill to pay towing fee states the towing company. No HOA lertter head. Just remit amount to HOA. Date of bill is 1 week after tow occurred.
Police have no record of tow. I discovered truck gone. Called the HOA. They told me where it was.
License plate, home phone, address on record in HOA office.
Filed Small Claims against HOA for rim damage and tow fee, HOA did not show, default judgement, HOA appealed to county court.
Since HOA appealed, HOA is now asking for attorney fees. Also, want to move responsible party to Towing Company.
What constitutes notice? (Collin county, Dallas, Texas)
Bylaws do not state rules regarding right to tow.
Complex requested tow, billed me, not towing company, was the HOA acting as an agent of the Towing Company?
Towing Company states they bill the HOA. Towing Company has no idea if HOA bills me or not.
I have not been informed by the HOA or Towing Company if the HOA has an agent contract with the Towing Company. (Acting as Towing Company agent only.)
Who is liable for damage? (Complex or towing company)

[Mr. Knowitall]

In the absence of a rule specifying how much notice is given, the normal default is "reasonable notice". 72 hours notice would normally be reasonable, although obviously that can create issues for residents who are on vacation.

If the HOA hired the towing company and paid it, obviously it was acting as the agent of the HOA. I'm not sure what you're trying to get at in relation to a "contract". There does not have to be a written contract for the HOA to hire the towing company.

If the towing company caused the damage, they are an obvious defendant. The HOA may be vicariously liable, depending on the full facts.

[Ron Gene]

Here's what I do not understand. The truck was parked legally. The HOA complex made the decision to move the truck and damages incurred. The HOA has via bylaws has the right to repair common elements. Those bylaws do not indicate anything relative to personal property. The notice that was given is assumed reasonable only if there is clear understanding to anyone using that space they would see that notice. My license plate is registered at the HOA office. A resaonable attempt to mitigate the towing could have been pursued by looking up my information and calling me. I was out of town, my wife was not. The HOA billed me, the towing service did not. The towing company has no idea if I was billed or not. The HOA indicated a second time I have an outstanding balance and has disallowed other services to me because of this out standing towing balance. They have assumed liability because they could have mitigated the towing and did not, they billed me, and they refused services to me because of the outstanding balance of towing. If the HOA had not authorized the towing, or mitigated the towing in some aspect, then then would not be liable.
Furhter here is what I do not understand as well. You need work done on your house. A general contractor is hired and sub-contracts the drywall. The drywall job is horrible. You do not sue the drywall guy, you sue the general contractor. The HOA sub-contracted the towing service and damages resulted from it. I do not understand how it can be the towing company when the HOA contracted the service from a legally parked spot.

[Who'sThatGuy]

How is it that your rims were damaged from being towed?

[cdwjava]

You can make a claim and then sue whomever you wish. However, in your analogy of the contractor it would seem that you would be arguing to sue yourself. Let's say that you are the HOA, the tow company is the contractor, and the drywall guy is the driver of the tow truck. Under your theory, you'd have to sue yourself.

As Mr. Knowitall said, the tow company is the party responsible for any damages. The HOA might hold some vicarious liability, but the alleged damages were inflicted by an employee of the tow company.

Now, if you contend that 72 hours is not reasonable notice (though I suspect it will be considered as such) you can certainly try to sue the HOA for the costs of the tow, though it may not make them any more liable for the damages to your vehicle.

It sounds as if you may be in for a long ride in small claims court.