A U.S. Coast Guard veteran saw his truck towed away in the middle of the night by his HOA, costing him dearly.
A quiet neighborhood felt as though they were being harassed after their HOA hired a new towing company. The drivers would strike in the middle of the night and have allegedly been authorized to tow vehicles from private driveways if registration tags were expired.
Brennan Wells, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran in Florida, knew the registration for his new Toyota Tundra was expiring at the end of September. Florida law says expired registration becomes a criminal offense after six months, so being a full-time student, decided to bide his time.
In early October, his HOA announced they’d signed a contract with a new towing company, A-1 Recovery, Inc. Wells and his neighbors didn’t think much of it since they’d normally followed the strict parking rules.
Imagine his surprise when he woke up one morning to find his truck had disappeared. Wells had placed a GPS tracker on his truck and followed the signal to A-1’s impound lot. He called the company, who told him his truck was towed from his private driveway due to expired registration.
The towing nightmare continued
“My registration was out of date by a month,” Wells told WFTS Tampa Bay. “This happened in October, my registration went out in September… Someone came into my driveway.”
Wells checked footage from his security cameras and saw the driver back up into his driveway and take it away.
Wells’s girlfriend gave him a ride to the impound lot, where he was presented with a bill of over $200. A bill he wasn’t financially prepared for.
“That’s my grocery money for the month,” said Wells.
To get his truck back and avoid storage fees, he had to miss a full day of classes. To add insult to injury he and his girlfriend waited in the yard for hours before they were helped.
“An hour and a half, two hours roll by, and finally someone shows up,” he said.
Wells wasn’t the tow company’s only victim
Wells’s neighbor, Allison Shaw, nearly had her family’s Tesla towed while it was still on the charger two days after his truck was towed. The Sheriff’s Department arrived and threatened to arrest the towing employees when they couldn’t produce proof of authorization from the HOA.
“You have no authority to be here whatsoever. If you hook up to a vehicle and take it, it’s considered vehicle theft. You will be prosecuted,” a Deputy told the driver. “The next time you try to take another vehicle, our supervisor said you will be prosecuted for vehicle theft.”
Two days later, the HOA suspended their contract with the towing company. Apparently, they didn’t like drivers walking onto private property with flashlights in the middle of the night.