On March 3, 2015 I talked to Michelle Bibeau of Melrose Management by phone regarding not having guest parking passes and/or needing to get a permanent parking exception to allow me to park my vehicle on the street in a guest/resident space in front of my home as it would not fit in the garage.
Michelle told me that I should be fine by just placing a note on the car until we can get the temp or guest passes that we need.
On March 4, I emailed and talked to Amy Benoit by phone and requested the forms to obtain the necessary parking passes which she indicated would take several days to disperse.
On March 4, 2015 (less than 24 hours after my initial conversation with Michelle), I parked where discussed at approximately 8pm and placed a note on the windshield as suggested and agreed upon by Michelle.
At 9:20pm I came outside to find a tow truck driver on the phone with someone (presumably from the Homeowners Association of Fountain Parke, possibly Michelle?) looking at another vehicle... but mine had already been towed by Sanford Towing and was en route to the impound lot!
He made no mention of my note, blamed the HOA, and gave me the info about where I could find it and the cost to retrieve it that night ($143.75).
I went back outside a little later to walk my dogs and found the note from my windshield...
CRUMPLED UP IN THE DIRT! I have taken photos of it as evidence if needed.
I called Michelle on the after-hours line and left a message. She called me back and I explained the situation. She flippantly told me she would talk to the HOA/Parking Committee during business hours to see what could be done but there was nothing that could be done that night.
I took every single step possible to ensure that I would NOT have any parking issues, including contacting the property management's (Melrose) offices twice in the 24 hours prior to this incident! I am the victim of predatory towing practices that are egregious and damaging to my family. Despite my best efforts to prevent this from happening... my vehicle was towed.
This company is supposed to be a property management company that serves the residents (who pay Homeowners Association Fees) here at Fountain Parke. Instead, they are towing residents' vehicles and getting a kickback every time. I don't know why anyone would want to live here. Fountain Parke has turned out to be very unsafe with NO privacy and you have to deal with aggressive management practices and over density.
If this property is a secure, gated community, then WHY would any towing company need to be called to remove vehicles from the designated guest spaces after hours? Who else would be parking here but the residents and their guests? Who are those parking spaces for?!
Regardless of that egregious rule... I did comply with it by getting pre-authorization the one time I needed it, and I was rewarded with well over $250 in fines as well as loss of school, medical care and quality of life.
I have contacted both Amy and Michelle several times by email and phone and even heard someone laughing in the background as Michelle told me the next day how nothing could be done and that I would have to pay the towing company to release my car.
The car continues to accrue storage fees for every day that the vehicle sits in their lot.
I was not able to take my sick child to the doctor despite vomiting and high fever on Thursday.
My 4 children have already missed 2 days of school and will continue to miss school and all other activities because I do not have vehicle to take them in!
I have asked for Michelle to take responsibility for the fact that she told me putting a note on the window would be sufficient when it clearly wasn't. She has acknowledged this verbally but refuses to contact the towing company to release the vehicle and continues to hide behind the 'parking committee' who supposedly makes the decisions.
Someone from Melrose Management company authorized the tow truck to remove my car from the property.
No one at the company has ever expressed any remorse or concern for my family as residents. Nor have they taken any steps to correct their mistake.
I need my vehicle to be released from Sanford towing and returned to me by whoever authorized them to take my car in the first place. The longer it sits there... the more fees it incurs. Melrose Management or the Homeowners Association of Fountain Parke are responsible for this gross misconduct and for the levy placed on my car.I will not pay out of pocket for this and then be 'reimbursed' as I do not trust this company to make good on their word. My trust has been violated. I do not know if it was the person from HOA or the tow truck driver who so blatantly removed my note from the windshield of my car, but I would like someone to to take responsibility for this.
This should have never happened and they owe it to my family to do the right thing and return my car. This is unfair treatment of your residents and I need to make sure something like this never happens again to any of the residents of a property managed Melrose Management.
If you are considering buying at Fountain Parke or any other property managed by this company, be extremely wary.
They have some seriously shady practices and care more about the bottom line than they do about their residents.
I am expecting retribution for posting this complaint but I felt I had no other options as I have not received any effort on their parts to rectify the situation, which could have been done so easily.
Therefore, I have contacted Action 9 News in Orlando and they have agreed to send a crew out to do an interview on scene and further investigate.
I am also preparing to file a civil suit in Seminole County courts to sue for the fees plus damages, as well as filing a complaint with the BBB.