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Is it Vandalism to Put a Permanent Sticker on Somebody's Car

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  • 04-29-2017, 12:07 PM
    J_Nic
    Is it Vandalism to Put a Permanent Sticker on Somebody's Car
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: South Carolina.

    Extra parking for my community is in the guest area parking by the pool. I park my car there because we have 3 vehicles and only 2 parking spots for our home. It doesn't sit long. I work 60+ hours per week and it is my main source for transportation (It is moved daily). This morning my car had a sticker on it thanking me for parking in the right location but asking me to verify my address by calling a phone number listed on the sticker. This sticker takes up half of my window and I cannot peel it off no matter what I have tried. I have an appointment with Honda for an oil change and I intend to have them remove the sticker when I go. I feel like my car has been assaulted. No sign is posted that states that they are allowed to place stickers on my car. I don't get a lot of free time in my life and I definitely don't enjoy using it to deal with issues like these. Can I sue the HOA or Property Management for vandalism? They obviously need a better system for figuring out which cars are with which unit than vandalism. To me, the use of this sticker is no different than if they had decided to use spray paint.
  • 04-29-2017, 12:36 PM
    Highwayman
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    One cannot assault an inanimate object.

    Maybe if you didn't park illegally you wouldn't have to worry - I would think if you're not a guest you cannot park there.

    A sticker on a window is easy enough to remove - use a razor blade and some rubbing alcohol.
  • 04-29-2017, 12:37 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    You may sue if you wish. Whether you’d win and how much I cannot say, of course. A lot depends on exactly what your HOA rules provide and all the details of this and I don’t have that information. I suggest, though, that you first discuss the matter with HOA management and see if you can amicably work this out. With some HOAs, if you start to sue over something like this the HOA board gets its back up and starts to look for everything it can ding you with, and that can make living there miserable.
  • 04-29-2017, 01:09 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Is it Vandalism to Put a Permanent Sticker on Somebody's Car
    You can report the act to the police. They may investigate and, if they find a basis to do so, may submit the report to the police department for possible prosecution.

    The fact that it is possible to remove a defacement does not mean that the act of defacing property cannot be treated as vandalism. People have been charged with vandalism over sidewalk chalk.

    Meanwhile, while being careful with your paint, a strong solvent like Goo-B-Gone should be sufficient to remove the glue, along with some careful scraping and elbow grease.
  • 04-29-2017, 01:21 PM
    llworking
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting Highwayman
    View Post
    One cannot assault an inanimate object.

    Maybe if you didn't park illegally you wouldn't have to worry - I would think if you're not a guest you cannot park there.

    A sticker on a window is easy enough to remove - use a razor blade and some rubbing alcohol.

    You might want to re-read the original post. I believe that he was legally parking in the extra parking places by the pool. The sticker also thanked him for parking in the right location.
  • 04-29-2017, 01:22 PM
    J_Nic
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting Highwayman
    View Post
    One cannot assault an inanimate object.

    Maybe if you didn't park illegally you wouldn't have to worry - I would think if you're not a guest you cannot park there.

    A sticker on a window is easy enough to remove - use a razor blade and some rubbing alcohol.

    I was told to park in the guest area parking when I had initially been parking my vehicle at the curb in front of my home. This wasn't any real issue for me as I understand that parking my car alongside the curb can look tacky. I don't own a razor blade (or rubbing alcohol for that matter) but the idea of scratching my window deters my interest in using your suggested method for removal. Just because it can be removed by someone with more experience does not mean that it is not an act of vandalism. Spray Paint can also be removed yet that would not be acceptable. If I punch someone in the face they will eventually heal, that does not mean that I didn't punch them.

    They deserve to pay for what they have done and I don't wish to see other drivers suffer for something that I could be fixing now. This is a stupid issue to have to deal with in my spare time and it could have easily been prevented if they had taken the time to consider the affect of their actions. There are many types of stickers that peel right off of cars with ease. They could have put a notice on my wiper. They could have passed out flyers to the residents to register all vehicles in guest parking. Point is, they didn't do these things. They simply chose to vandalize my property.

    The question now becomes how do I sue? Must I involve a lawyer or can I simply call the police or call the courthouse?
  • 04-29-2017, 01:24 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Would you be suing for the cost of a razor blade, a bottle of Goo-B-Gone, and five or ten minutes of work?

    You can hire a company to remove the sticker. I can't promise what they would charge and, if you prevail in court, I can't guarantee that a small claims court would find the amount to be reasonable.
  • 04-29-2017, 01:32 PM
    J_Nic
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Would you be suing for the cost of a razor blade, a bottle of Goo-B-Gone, and five or ten minutes of work?

    You can hire a company to remove the sticker. I can't promise what they would charge and, if you prevail in court, I can't guarantee that a small claims court would find the amount to be reasonable.

    You could add the public shame of driving around with a sticker for a couple of days and the hassle of having to deal with a problem which could have been prevented in the first place. It would have to be enough to teach them that what they are doing is wrong because if they barely feel it financially then they won't even care about what they are doing. I'm not upset about the $10-$30 possible cost of repairs but more-so about their complete and utter disrespect and disregard for my property. They should not be allowed to get away with something like that.
  • 04-29-2017, 02:10 PM
    cbg
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    That's not something you can sue for in small claims.
  • 04-29-2017, 04:09 PM
    llworking
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting J_Nic
    View Post
    You could add the public shame of driving around with a sticker for a couple of days and the hassle of having to deal with a problem which could have been prevented in the first place. It would have to be enough to teach them that what they are doing is wrong because if they barely feel it financially then they won't even care about what they are doing. I'm not upset about the $10-$30 possible cost of repairs but more-so about their complete and utter disrespect and disregard for my property. They should not be allowed to get away with something like that.

    I think that you are over the top about the "shame" but I also agree that what they did is basically vandalism. I also agree that it needs to be firmly addressed to them. You were following the rules and parked your third car in the area designated for that. They were out of line to put that kind of sticker on your car in order to verify that the car actually belonged to a resident. They could have done it maliciously, or it could have been an idiot employee who did not realize that the stickers could not be easily removed.

    Your first step needs to be to make a serious complaint to the office along with a request to be reimbursed for the amount you had to pay to get the sticker removed...and move up the corporate ladder if necessary.

    You could make a complaint to the police about vandalism but I do not think that you are going to get anywhere with that because the police will assume that it is a parking dispute between you and the management and they will tell you that it is a civil matter.

    I suspect that if it was NOT intended maliciously, but was rather a stupid move by an employee of the complex, that the issue will be resolved fairly easily.
  • 04-29-2017, 04:42 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting J_Nic
    View Post
    You could add the public shame of driving around with a sticker for a couple of days and the hassle of having to deal with a problem which could have been prevented in the first place. It would have to be enough to teach them that what they are doing is wrong because if they barely feel it financially then they won't even care about what they are doing. I'm not upset about the $10-$30 possible cost of repairs but more-so about their complete and utter disrespect and disregard for my property. They should not be allowed to get away with something like that.


    You may sue in small claims court for that if you wish. But you won’t get anything for “shame” or “hassle” as neither of those things are legally recognized damages. Nor will you get anything for the time you have spend going to court over this, either. What you would be entitled to get is the reasonable cost of removing the sticker. So you might get the $10-$30 you spend for that, plus reimbursement for the court filing fee and fee for serving the complaint on the HOA. That’s it. Your posts are becoming more strident on this as we go along, and I suspect that the more you are thinking about the more irritated you are getting. You are reaching a point here of making a mountain out of a molehill. I doubt the HOA really intended to do any harm to your vehicle. I don't see this as quite the same as vandalism. Rather, it strikes me as far more likely that it is simply negligence — they may not be aware of how difficult that notice is remove.

    In any event, I suggest that before you go running off the courthouse that you try to amicably work this out with the HOA. Address the issue of the notice being hard to remove and that you needed to pay someone to get it off, but avoid casting about terms like vandalism when you talk with them. Human nature being what it is, if you go in there all angry and accusing them of committing crimes like vandalism they will themselves tend to get angry and defensive, and be far less likely to want to help resolve it. It is in your interest to preserve a reasonably good relationship with the HOA board and staff if you can, since having a good relationship can make working out future problems that may be even more serious much easier. If you develop an antagonistic relationship with them what you will get is conflict after conflict with the HOA. I have seen that happen in HOAs, and it can make the homeowner miserable. There are times you need to go to court to deal with serious problems with the HOA, but IMO this is not one of those instances.
  • 04-29-2017, 08:04 PM
    Who'sThatGuy
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    You're wasting more of your free time posting in this thread, filing for small claims court and trying to find someone to remove the sticker then if you were just to remove the sticker yourself.

    You can get a pack of single edge razor blades for $1 and you can use soapy-water to remove the sticker. Stop acting like you are a useless slug. It will take you less then five minutes to remove the sticker.

    And if you do decide to sue, it will cost you more money to file then you can recover. No judge is going to agree with a charge of $10 to $30 to remove a sticker from a window, so you may just lose that $30 that someone will charge to remove the sticker and whatever your cost for filing in small claims court.*
  • 04-29-2017, 11:46 PM
    llworking
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting Who'sThatGuy
    View Post
    You're wasting more of your free time posting in this thread, filing for small claims court and trying to find someone to remove the sticker then if you were just to remove the sticker yourself.

    You can get a pack of single edge razor blades for $1 and you can use soapy-water to remove the sticker. Stop acting like you are a useless slug. It will take you less then five minutes to remove the sticker.

    And if you do decide to sue, it will cost you more money to file then you can recover. No judge is going to agree with a charge of $10 to $30 to remove a sticker from a window, so you may just lose that $30 that someone will charge to remove the sticker and whatever your cost for filing in small claims court.*

    I really disagree with everyone who has suggested a razor blade. A razor blade would be very likely to damage the glass. Soap and water to remove the paper portion of the sticker and goo be gone or a similar product to remove the sticky portion would be better advice. If you need to scrape to get some of it off, use something plastic.
  • 04-30-2017, 06:13 AM
    cbg
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    In my state we have an annual mandatory inspection of your vehicle, and there is a sticker that you have to have in the corner of your windshield showing that you have been inspected within the past year. When you get the new sticker each year, the garage removes the old one with a razor blade.

    Just sayin'.
  • 04-30-2017, 09:29 AM
    Highwayman
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting cbg
    View Post
    In my state we have an annual mandatory inspection of your vehicle, and there is a sticker that you have to have in the corner of your windshield showing that you have been inspected within the past year. When you get the new sticker each year, the garage removes the old one with a razor blade.

    Just sayin'.


    In New York we have inspections stickers AND registration stickers on the windshield. I use a scraper with a razor-type metal blade to remove them when they need to be replaced. Never had an issue either.
  • 04-30-2017, 11:38 AM
    qwaspolk69
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    When we had the DoD decals on our cars to get on base, they were always on the windshield. Either top or bottom left of the windshield. Every year when I had to get a new one, I used a razor to scrape it off. Never scratched my windshield.
  • 04-30-2017, 12:07 PM
    Who'sThatGuy
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    I really disagree with everyone who has suggested a razor blade. A razor blade would be very likely to damage the glass. Soap and water to remove the paper portion of the sticker and goo be gone or a similar product to remove the sticky portion would be better advice. If you need to scrape to get some of it off, use something plastic.

    If you use the razor blade the correct way, it will not do any damage to the window. Motor Vehicle Inspection stations use a razor blade on a handle to remove expired inspection stickers from windows on thousands of cars everyday without damaging a window. When your vehicle is impounded by the police they write on the windshield with a crayon type marker that you need a razor blade to remove. Painters use it on windows all day long. I have never seen a windshield damaged by the razor blade. If you are going to dig into a window with a razor blade, then yes you will damage the window. Hold the razor blade at an angle and you will not..
  • 04-30-2017, 01:04 PM
    BooRennie
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    We used to scrape paint off windows with metal razor blades. Not that big a deal.

    I've used WIndex Wipes to remove paper stickers off car windows. I was on vacation once, and someone didn't like how I parked. The person placing the sticker did not know that I carry Windex wipes in my car, so his/her/its little attempt at "shaming" me did not work. Granted, it was a paper sticker and not a vinyl (bumper sticker) type material. :victorious:
  • 04-30-2017, 06:53 PM
    J_Nic
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    It's not just $10-$30 for me. It's me and every other car that is parked in the designated area. That's potentially hundreds of dollars that their actions have incurred upon us all. No company should be able to get away with such a thing with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. I don't understand how my time isn't valued in the court system. Nothing is more valuable to me than the time that I have.

    Businesses do this kind of thing to people all of the time and it's not right. I don't feel like a court would disagree.
  • 04-30-2017, 07:23 PM
    Who'sThatGuy
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting J_Nic
    View Post
    Nothing is more valuable to me than the time that I have.

    Then don't waste your time in small claims court. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just letting you know the real deal.

    Take a razor blade and use soapy-water so you don't scratch the glass. It's not hard at all and make sure you use plenty of the soapy-water to let the razor blade slide across the glass.
  • 04-30-2017, 07:53 PM
    llworking
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting Who'sThatGuy
    View Post
    If you use the razor blade the correct way, it will not do any damage to the window. Motor Vehicle Inspection stations use a razor blade on a handle to remove expired inspection stickers from windows on thousands of cars everyday without damaging a window. When your vehicle is impounded by the police they write on the windshield with a crayon type marker that you need a razor blade to remove. Painters use it on windows all day long. I have never seen a windshield damaged by the razor blade. If you are going to dig into a window with a razor blade, then yes you will damage the window. Hold the razor blade at an angle and you will not..

    That is why I recommend against it. Someone who doesn't know what they are doing can do damage. There are enough other ways to do it that are safer.
  • 04-30-2017, 09:03 PM
    Who'sThatGuy
    Re: Irremovable Sticker on My Car Legal or Vandalism
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    That is why I recommend against it. Someone who doesn't know what they are doing can do damage. There are enough other ways to do it that are safer.

    I'll agree with that but the razor blade is the easiest way if you know what you are doing.
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