The Bright Red Car
When Reddit user Richard first met his girlfriend (now wife), she was living in a run-of-the-mill apartment complex. There were four interconnected buildings in a line, each with an entrance that opens to the stairway. There were 2 floors, a basement and 4 units on each level, it was a pretty typical apartment complex. Each building had no assigned parking spaces, but a pass was required to park for more than 24 hours, and there were spots specifically for guests, so people ended up parking in the same spot regularly.
Richard explained that the company that owned the complex owned similar properties that were located in surrounding states. There was a building manager assigned to each property who was given an apartment in the complex. The manager of his girlfriend’s apartment was in the same building as her and parked next to her in her bright red car. The funny thing about that is that most days she would drive ‘to work.’ She lived at one end of the complex and the manager’s office was at the other end, so she would get in her car and drive to the other end and park in the reserved manager’s spot. A whole 500 feet away, which could be accomplished without stepping foot outside by using the hallways between buildings if the weather was bad.
The Large Red Scrape
Richard’s explains that his girlfriend never had any issues with the place in the six years she lived there. There was the occasional maintenance call and one time when she had to leave the apartment for a few days because one of her hoarder neighbors had attracted roaches. His girlfriend had never been late on rent as she had her rent check sent automatically from her bank every month, set to arrive 5 days before it was due. She never put up a fight about rent increases or changes in policy… she was an ideal tenant.
One Friday afternoon, Richard went to pick up his girlfriend up because they had a little extended weekend getaway planned. His girlfriend had taken the day off work to pack so they could leave before rush hour traffic hit. She hadn’t been out to her car all day.
Richard tossed her luggage into his car and she went to grab her phone charger from her car before they left. She got into her car and saw a notice under her windshield wiper that her parking pass was revoked and her car would be towed if it wasn’t moved off the property within 24 hours. The reason was that her car was damaged and the complex policy required all cars to be in good condition. Richard and his girlfriend both looked at each other puzzled and went around to the other side of the car, only to notice a large red scrape along the side, as well as a bit of trim torn off.
The Cop Call
Richard and his girlfriend knew who had done it and they only needed to walk down to the other end of the lot to see that there was corresponding damage to the manager’s car! They called the police to make a report and mentioned that the apartment manager typically parked next to his girlfriend and that there was damage to her car. The officer said that without a witness or admission of guilt, that he couldn’t assume it was her, and that since it was on private property it’s entirely up to insurance and he wouldn’t be able to issue a citation for an accident.
At this point, Richard and his girlfriend decided that they were not going to let it ruin their weekend. Richard’s dog was in the back seat of his car with the A/C on the whole time because they were going to drop him off with a dog sitter for the weekend and weren’t in any position to try and argue with the apartment manager. They took pictures of the damage of both vehicles, then backtracked all the way to his place, dropped her car off there so it doesn’t get towed, then he dropped his dog off. They hit the road and ended up getting stuck in the traffic they were hoping to avoid.
The Confrontation
Richard and his girlfriend decide to head back early Monday afternoon, after stewing over it the whole weekend, they decided to just confront the apartment manager. They picked up his dog and headed over to his girlfriend’s apartment. Their dog was chilling in the car with the A/C going because they had hoped it would be a quick resolution. They stepped into the building manager’s office and asked her point blank if she hit his girlfriend’s car.
The manager admitted that she hit the car when she drove 500 feet home to have lunch. The woman tried knocking on her door to tell her in person, but she wasn’t home. As mentioned previously, Richard’s girlfriend was home all day until they left. So, Richard and his girlfriend asked her why the heck she put a notice revoking her parking pass on her car, instead of leaving a note. She claimed that she didn’t know about it and that her assistant probably placed the notice there without knowing what was going on. They knew that was obviously another lie, but believed they could still work it out if she made things right.
But this wouldn’t be a story of professional revenge if it all ended there, would it? Oh, dear reader, this is where the tide shifts and Richard and his girlfriend were infused with wrath that could make the gods proud.
The City’s Policy
Instead of doing the logical thing and offering to pay for the damages and undo the revoked parking pass, the building manager decided to double down. They asked the manager if she intended on undo the parking issue and she said no, the car was damaged and needed to be repaired. They asked her if the incident at hand was worth losing a tenant over and she said yes, and that she had an obligation to enforce policy, but that they could appeal the decision and give them the appropriate form to do so.
She explained that she could issue a 14-day temporary pass but after that, the car would be towed at their earliest convenience. They asked her if she was going to pay for the damages and she then changed the subject back to what they wanted to have done about the car. They replied and told her that they contacted the police on Friday and that they considered it a hit and run. They also suggested that she contact the police and clear up the situation.
Now, they explain that they lived in a somewhat sizeable city and in most cases, their city’s policy was to self-report any traffic accidents where there is no injury and let insurance handle the rest. The requirement was that you report accidents within 72 hours of them happening. The rationale behind that policy was to ensure that police weren’t wasting their time and resources responding to every little fender-bender.
The Insurance
Finally, Richard and his girlfriend stepped outside the manager’s office, call the officer that took their original report and told him that the manager just admitted to them that she hit his girlfriend’s car. The officer said he would come by as soon as he could but that it might take a little while. So, they just chill out for a bit, and an hour later the officer arrived. They went back inside the manager’s apartment with him and he asked her if she would like to report an accident that happened.
Richard explains that you could see the look of fear in the manager’s eyes as she confessed what she had done. Except that the officer noted the original report was made Friday at 2 pm, and that at that time it was Monday at 3 pm and that she did not report this accident within 72 hours of it happening by at least one hour, but probably more.
So now the officer could issue a citation for a hit and run, which carried an automatic 90-day license suspension and a mandatory court appearance. At some point, they all went go outside to see the damage that had been done on the vehicle, where the manager noticed Richard’s dog in the back seat of my car and started taking pictures of his car, which had nothing to do with the situation.
Naturally, as the other party was identified and her insurance information taken down, you would think that would pretty, much settle the dispute – right? Wrong.
They thought they could settle it, but of course not. It turned out, that her insurance denied the claim because they said that since she hadn’t left the apartment property that her lunch break was still considered working and that she didn’t have commercial coverage. Richard’s girlfriend didn’t have uninsured motorist coverage so they were out of luck in getting her car repaired.
The Big Move
Richard describes that it wouldn’t have been such a big deal… it was a 9-year-old economy car and his girlfriend would have happily just lived with the damage if the apartment manager hadn’t told her she couldn’t park at her own apartment. There was no safe place to park nearby and no reason to pay a couple thousand dollars to repair a car only worth a few thousand dollars. It was effectively the same as being told she was longer welcome. Anyway, they went up and down the parking lot taking pictures of vehicles with damage to illustrate that that policy wasn’t being widely enforced.
At that point, Richard and his girlfriend decided that no matter what happened that they were going to move in together, to avoid the crazy building manager. They had planned on moving in with each other later on in the year, as Richard’s house was in the middle of renovations and his girlfriend didn’t want to move into a work zone, but they figured that they might as well just go for it. So, Richard’s girlfriend issued a 30 days notice in accordance with state law, and packed her stuff, bringing a car-load over day by day.
The Appeal
During this moving period, a response to the appeal on the parking issue arrives in Richard’s girlfriend’s mailbox. The appeal was denied and it was signed by the apartment manager, meaning it was a b.s gesture from the get-go. Along with that, there was a notice to vacate the property for violating the terms of the lease by having a dog, attached with photos of Richard’s dog in the backseat of his car. This woman had some nerve.
By the time the temporary parking pass expired, his girlfriend had already moved everything out. They both spent the next week cleaning the apartment like no other because they knew the manager was going to try and nickel and dime the security deposit away. At one point, they were there cleaning and the manager came by to show the apartment to a couple who was interested in renting it. There was no notice given, so Richard and his girlfriend denied them entry, and it turned into a hallway argument where it was apparent that the couple was friends with the manager and they thus really wanted to live near each other. They took at least 200 photos showing how clean it was and then locked the door and never returned to the apartment again.
The Summons
On the 29th day after issuing a notice to the apartment complex, Richard’s girlfriend turned in her keys without visiting the apartment. The state law gives the landlord 30 days to provide an itemized list of deductions. Day 30 came around and they had nothing. They waited 10 days to ensure that nothing was being held up in the mail and made a filing in small claims court. Richard and his significant other filed suit for the amount of the deposit plus the equivalent in damages (per state law), plus for the costs of repairing the car since they were denied her personal insurance since she was considered to be working (and of course they provided the highest estimate we could find). They even had the summons sent to the apartment manager, acting as an agent of the complex with both the property owner and the apartment manager named in the suit. The suit pushed the limits of the maximum for small claims court.
They tracked the details and saw that the apartment manager was served a summons on behalf of the property owner and a hearing was scheduled for 40 days later. His girlfriend got a letter postmarked the same day the manager signed the summons with a check for the deposit, for less than half of what it should have been. There was also a list of things that the manager said had to be cleaned up or replaced. The two made no acknowledgment of receiving the check and did not cash it. The date on the check was our proof that they didn’t issue it within the required 30 days.
The Call
The couple waited patiently the whole time, not hearing a peep. The morning before the hearing, Richard’s girlfriend got a call from the lawyer for the property owner to ask what this hearing was all about. They ended up in a conference call with their lawyer, the property manager, the property owner, and half a dozen other people from the company. They just found out that they were being sued and Richard and his girlfriend detailed the entire series of events to all of them. The property manager kept trying to interrupt but was continuously told to stop talking. Eventually, the officials ended the call and concluded they had some things to discuss.
Later in the evening, the lawyer called and in a surprising move, gave the couple a full rundown of everything that has happened. The apartment manager obviously tried to cover up mistake after mistake. She had her court date for the hit and run and her license was suspended for 90 days. She rented the apartment to her friend and her friend had moved in before the lease with my girlfriend had officially ended.
The Affidavit
The vehicle policy had never been enforced and was strictly in place to prevent people from storing non-working cars or project cars that didn’t run. Needless to say, the apartment manager was going to lose her job and be removed one way or another from her free apartment. The property owner was going to pay out the exact amount requested in the small claims suit, and in exchange, Richard’s girlfriend would sign an affidavit saying something to the effect that the property owner admitted no fault, and is no longer being named in the suit, but is paying the cost of the suit on behalf of property manager, who is still being named.
The affidavit also said that Richard’s girlfriend wouldn’t pursue any action against anyone for having the apartment occupied while she was considered the tenant. There was no way out of the property owner having to fly their lawyer in to go to the courthouse and settle the dispute. So, the property owner had to pay for many hours of legal fees and travel costs on top of the thousands of dollars for the deposit and repairs.
Now comes the sprinkles on top of a delicious iced cake:
Richard and his girlfriend showed up at the courthouse, met up with the lawyer and signed the affidavit. They waited for their case to be called and up until that point, the property manager had not there yet.
The Moment Of Truth
Their case was skipped over a few times while Richard and his girlfriend waited for the manager to show up and eventually she did. The judge called them up, spent a good five minutes reading everything and asked everyone if the affidavit was correct. Then while signing some documents, the judge asked the manager why she was late. Her excuse was that she couldn’t find a place to park. “You couldn’t find a place to park or your ride couldn’t find a place to park?” the judge said. “I couldn’t”, the manager said.
The judge, having just read documentation saying she admitted to a hit-and-run and had a suspended license, pointed out this fact and then found her contempt for court because she had the audacity to show up late while driving on a suspended license.