September 4, 2026 at 11:24 am

His HOA Had His Car Towed — He Thinks They Should’ve Emailed Him First

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It’s a real gut-punch to get your car towed… Especially if you happen to be in a hurry and you rush out to find your car has…VANISHED. Ugh!

If you’ve ever had that experience, you know how frustrating it is. And it really stings if you feel like you didn’t do anything wrong and your car still got hauled away. The guy who wrote this story thinks he was in the clear, and now he’s upset about the bucks he had to dish out to get his towed car back.

Take a look at what he had to say.

HOA towed my registered car after a warning sticker with no date/time on it.

I live in a condo HOA in Illinois.

I have a second car that had a flat tire and a dead battery, so it had been sitting in the HOA common parking area for a couple of months.

The car was properly registered with the state and was also registered with the HOA.

Today I found out it had been towed.

That’s a lot of money!

I ended up paying $466 to get it back because I didn’t want storage fees to keep increasing.

Here are the facts:

The HOA had my current email and phone number. They’ve emailed me before about much smaller issues (broken window screen, inspections, etc.).

I never received an email, letter, or phone call about my car.

The tow company told me the property manager authorized the tow. The tow company wouldn’t provide the authorization and said I have to get it from the HOA.

This seemed pretty fishy…

The warning sticker was still on my windshield when I got the car back.

The sticker says I have **72 hours** to correct the violation, **but the “Posted” date and time fields are blank.** There is no way to tell when the 72-hour period supposedly started.

I honestly don’t remember seeing the sticker the night before, but I can’t say that with 100% certainty.

Is it in the HOA rules?

I reviewed the HOA rules.

They mention towing for things like abandoned or unlicensed vehicles, but I couldn’t find anything that specifically says **a flat tire alone is grounds for towing**.

The tow driver told me they tow vehicles with flat tires when the property manager calls them.

He’s tired of playing with these folks.

I’m planning to meet with the HOA on Monday and ask for:

The tow authorization/work order.

The date and time the warning sticker was placed.

The list continues…

Any photos taken before the tow.

The specific HOA rule they believe my car violated.

Why I wasn’t contacted directly when they had my email and phone number.

He wants his money back.

My biggest concern is the sticker.

If it says I had **72 hours** to correct the issue, but there’s **no posting date or time**, how am I supposed to know when those 72 hours started? If they can’t prove when it was posted, does that weaken the HOA’s position?

Has anyone dealt with something similar, especially in Illinois or with an HOA?
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Do I have a reasonable argument for reimbursement, or am I likely out the $466?”