Complaint Review: Lot Monitoring Services Inc - Sunrise Florida

Lot Monitoring Services, Inc (LMSI) and Ronni Koch are scam artists that help towing companies like All County Towing (Chris Casale) in Broward County, FL to circumvent predatory towing laws. 

I lease a private condo at Lakewood at Emerald Hills (they're in on the scam) in Hollywood, FL.  As part of my lease, I am provided with one registered parking space and access to guest parking for additional cars.  All cars left in guest spots overnight must have an approved (and pre-paid) permit to do so and are given a hanging tag to display.  This past Sunday evening, my fiance parked her car in my registered spot and I parked in the guest spot. 

Although my fiance's car was not authorized to be in my parking space she was displaying the guest parking tag.  Between the two of us, we were not taking up more than our alloted spaces (including pre-paid guest spot).  LMSI thought it within their rights to have my fiance's car towed from the lot.  Again, we were not inconveniencing any neighbors by taking extra spots or parking in an unauthorized area.  Neither the condo association nor any of my neighbors contacted All County Towing.  LMSI did.

Here's the scam..... Towing companies cannot provide compensation (kickbacks) to condo associations.  However, they can kick back to third party vendors.  Essentially, a condo association can contract with a third party company like LMSI, who can, and does, receive compensation from the towing company for every towing request they make.  LMSI has spotters that they plant in private lots whose job it is to report what they consider to be parking violations.  Condo associations can then give blanket authority to companies like LMSI who can authorize towing at their discretion and without notice to the vehicle owner.  They are paid a fee for every successville tow they can authorize.  The more cars they authorize for towing, the more money they make.

I was able to get the owner of record of LMSI Ronni Koch on the phone and asked him point blank how he receives his compensation.  After stuttering for a few seconds, Ron  told me that he is contracted by and paid by the condo association.  I contacted Susan (the association manager) at the Lakewood at Emeral Hills office who was very direct in telling me that the association does in fact contract with both LMSI and All County Towing, but does not pay them anything for their services.  When I explained that Ronni Koch told me he was compensated by the association, she became very tight-lipped and told me she would not release any further information to me because I am only a leasee and not a unit owner.  The owner of LMSI clearly lied about how he is compensated because he runs an unethical business.

Beware of LMSI.  They are compensated and incentivized by having cars towed.  They are not required to provide any proof of violation and are given carte blanche authority by the condo association to have your vehicle stolen and then held for ransom.  Unethical at best. 

Also beware of Lakewood at Emerald Hills Condo Association.  They don't create a sense of community and condone the use of these unethical business practices.  And although only speculative, it would not shock me if the association management was being compensated by LMSI as well.