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Management Co & Clamping

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  • 07-11-2013 2:47pm
    #1
    duke916
    Registered Users Posts: 113 ✭✭


    So two days ago I had my car clamped outside my front door in a Dublin apartment development. As an owner and resident I had fallen behind on my management fees, a new permit was not issued and i was clamped some 7 months after it expired, baring in mind there was no notice given to renew as i expected it to be automatic considering im an owner and not a tenant. When I called the mang company I was told a letter was issued some 7 months ago informing me to pay up, which honestly I never received, nor never received a reminder or final notice between that time period.

    During the summer months i was unemployed, however last month I had lodged a considerable amount (half the annual charge) into the company account. When i informed them of this, they denied receiving it, telling me the company accounts were always a month behind so i had to take a shot of my account and email it to them showing the transaction, in black and white. I had put forward a proposal to pay the remaining fees over the months ahead while in the meantime the charge on removing the clamp was increasing. NO word on this so far from the company directors. I was told by the mang. company that to remove the clamp it was between me and the clamping company, however, since i spoke with the clamping co..... the mangt company have the power to authorise the clamping company to remove the clamp without any charge, this is what i got when called about releasing the clamp. The mang company refused to authorise it.

    So today i bit the bullet and paid the clamping company with money i dont have....250euro! for two days clamping. I was told by the clamping company that if they did not receive word from the mang company to stay away from the car, they would clamp it again. My blood is boiling as i called the mang company and they STILL have not decided what action they are goin to take re: fees or my proposal for paying. So i am open to be clamped again, possibly by the end of the day. how can they expect me to pay if im being robbed as they see fit? what are my legal rights on this as i do not have the money to pay another clamp nor pay the fees if this keeps happening. this is pure extortion and holding me to random by taking charge of my means of transport, my property surely cannot be acceptable.


Comments

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    #2
    djimi
    Registered Users Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    Stop paying the clampers for a start. Id have sooner given the €250 in cash to the management company to go against your arrears on the provision that they called off the clampers.


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    #3
    duke916
    Registered Users Posts: 113 ✭✭duke916


    djimi wrote: »
    Stop paying the clampers for a start. Id have sooner given the €250 in cash to the management company to go against your arrears on the provision that they called off the clampers.

    That was my exact point. If im being hammered by clamping fees, how do they expect me to pay fees. The longer the clamp was on the car the more id have to pay, so when i get home i have to move my car to another location to avoid these filthy thieves taking money pout of my back pocket once more. what are the legalities on this? stopping me from residing in place of residence, extortion, random etc??


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    #4
    djimi
    Registered Users Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    Ultimately you dont have to pay the clampers anything; legally they have no way of chasing you for the money "owed". The downside of course is that the clamp remains on your car (Im sure plenty will be along suggesting to remove it yourself...), but seeing as how the management company has the power to have the clamp removed then Id be doing all I could to get them to sort it. A friendly reminder that fines from a clamping company and possible loss of earning from not being able to get access to your car are not going to help your efforts to clear the arrears might help them to see sense.


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    #5
    Paulw
    Registered Users Posts: 13,381 ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    Sounds like you are dealing with the management agents, rather than directly with the directors of your management company. You can look up the directors on the CRO website.

    I recommend you contact the directors of the management company directly, and get their agreement. They can then inform the management agent, who can then instruct the clamping company.


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    #6
    Mankyspuds
    Registered Users Posts: 156 ✭✭Mankyspuds


    My hatred of Management Companies has increased ever so slightly. Bunch of Fookers!


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    #7
    brokenarms
    Registered Users Posts: 1,387 ✭✭✭brokenarms


    They are going to bring it in to my estate.

    It was voted on my the residents association and got an over whelming thumbs up.


    Personally. I would cut the clamp off. They don't have the right to touch your car.


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    #8
    Santa Cruz
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,126 ✭✭✭Santa Cruz


    Mankyspuds wrote: »
    My hatred of Management Companies has increased ever so slightly. Bunch of Fookers!

    If you are an owner you are a shareholder in the management company and have the right to get matters addressed and resolved if you bother to attend the A.G.M. and take an interest in your company.
    If you are a tenant just obey the rules


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    #9
    Santa Cruz
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,126 ✭✭✭Santa Cruz


    duke916 wrote: »
    So two days ago I had my car clamped outside my front door in a Dublin apartment development. As an owner and resident I had fallen behind on my management fees, a new permit was not issued and i was clamped some 7 months after it expired, baring in mind there was no notice given to renew as i expected it to be automatic considering im an owner and not a tenant. When I called the mang company I was told a letter was issued some 7 months ago informing me to pay up, which honestly I never received, nor never received a reminder or final notice between that time period.

    During the summer months i was unemployed, however last month I had lodged a considerable amount (half the annual charge) into the company account. When i informed them of this, they denied receiving it, telling me the company accounts were always a month behind so i had to take a shot of my account and email it to them showing the transaction, in black and white. I had put forward a proposal to pay the remaining fees over the months ahead while in the meantime the charge on removing the clamp was increasing. NO word on this so far from the company directors. I was told by the mang. company that to remove the clamp it was between me and the clamping company, however, since i spoke with the clamping co..... the mangt company have the power to authorise the clamping company to remove the clamp without any charge, this is what i got when called about releasing the clamp. The mang company refused to authorise it.

    So today i bit the bullet and paid the clamping company with money i dont have....250euro! for two days clamping. I was told by the clamping company that if they did not receive word from the mang company to stay away from the car, they would clamp it again. My blood is boiling as i called the mang company and they STILL have not decided what action they are goin to take re: fees or my proposal for paying. So i am open to be clamped again, possibly by the end of the day. how can they expect me to pay if im being robbed as they see fit? what are my legal rights on this as i do not have the money to pay another clamp nor pay the fees if this keeps happening. this is pure extortion and holding me to random by taking charge of my means of transport, my property surely cannot be acceptable.



    As an owner you are a shareholder and the management company is answerable to its shareholders. You are making an effort to put a payment plan into place. The management company via the agent should ensure that the fee paid for clamping is reimbursed.


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    #10
    djimi
    Registered Users Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    brokenarms wrote: »
    Personally. I would cut the clamp off. They don't have the right to touch your car.

    They do however have the right to deny you access to their parking space...


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    #11
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    brokenarms wrote: »
    ... It was voted on my the residents association and got an over whelming thumbs up. ....
    A resident's association has no such powers. If the estate is a private gated one, such decisions are a matter for the management company. If the estate has been taken in charge by the LA, than private clampers cannot operate on public property, unless the areas where the clamper operate is owned by the management company and part of the lease agreement with the owner-occupier.
    brokenarms wrote: »
    ...
    Personally. I would cut the clamp off. They don't have the right to touch your car.
    In a private estate the management company or the managing agent acting on their instructions has a perfect right to operate a clamping system where residents are in arrears if they so wish.

    Removing the clamp in these circumstances could leave you open to a charge of criminal damage.


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    #12
    brokenarms
    Registered Users Posts: 1,387 ✭✭✭brokenarms


    mathepac wrote: »
    A resident's association has no such powers. If the estate is a private gated one, such decisions are a matter for the management company. If the estate has been taken in charge by the LA, than private clampers cannot operate on public property, unless the areas where the clamper operate is owned by the management company and part of the lease agreement with the owner-occupier.
    In a private estate the management company or the managing agent acting on their instructions has a perfect right to operate a clamping system where residents are in arrears if they so wish.
    In my estate the residents association work side by side with the managment company. Its a strange set up in many ways, but the builder owns a good deal of the houses and rents them out. He also in the director of the management company. He runs everything through a vote at the AGM to keep everyone on his side I think.

    Removing the clamp in these circumstances could leave you open to a charge of criminal damage.

    There are a few thread on here stating that no one in Ireland has ever been successfully brought to court over removing private clamps. I dont know if there is any truth in it. The whole area of touching a persons car or immobilising it is a grey one as far as the law is concerned.

    And besides. Its hardly your fault if someone comes and cuts a clamp of your car;)


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    #13
    Lantus
    Registered Users Posts: 3,027 ✭✭✭Lantus


    If you are a member of a mgm co then you have a contractual obligation to pay. The company can deny services if you don't including use of the parking facilities.

    You should of paid the money direct to the company to clear your fees and made sure they released your car at no charge. Contact the directors (see cro.ie) if you need to find out who they are.

    From the directors perspective you have just spent €250 while claiming you cannot afford to pay your fee's, hardly grounds for sympathy. harsh but that will be their take.

    If there is a managing agent then you have to realise they are a profit making company on a fixed fee. Part payments consume time and therefore money which doesn't work in your favour. They will be generally happy to see you suffer rather than work hard to rectify the issue as their interest is in protecting their profit and minimising any extraneous work.

    Once anyone deviates from the prescribed payment plan its awkward.

    Contact an actual director IN writing and outline the history and your plan to pay the fees in a meaningful manner and request they contact you to confirm such. don't use any emotional language, just stick to the facts.


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    #14
    athtrasna
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,420 ✭✭✭✭athtrasna


    Mankyspuds wrote: »
    My hatred of Management Companies has increased ever so slightly. Bunch of Fookers!

    Clamping would only be brought in as a last resort to bring in the money needed to keep services such as insurance, refuse and public area lighting in managed developments. There's only so long the few that pay can subsidise the many who don't. When people buy in a managed development they commit to paying fees, this commitment doesn't end when the purchaser's circumstances change, and this is where problems begin because most people don't have the funds to plan for a rainy day.


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    #15
    ANXIOUS
    Registered Users Posts: 3,095 ✭✭✭ANXIOUS


    €250!!!! I hate those leeches. Have a look on the motors page people sonetimes help when someone gets clamped.


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    #16
    DuckHook
    Registered Users Posts: 514 ✭✭✭DuckHook


    athtrasna wrote: »
    Clamping would only be brought in as a last resort to bring in the money needed to keep services such as insurance, refuse and public area lighting in managed developments. There's only so long the few that pay can subsidise the many who don't. When people buy in a managed development they commit to paying fees, this commitment doesn't end when the purchaser's circumstances change, and this is where problems begin because most people don't have the funds to plan for a rainy day.

    Cant agree more, people are happy to use the facilities and get their bins emptied but get upset when they have to pay for it.

    Do people think the management company want to be dealing with residents on to them about their cars getting clamped? If you dont pay or engage with them op when you clearly know you are not paying then i have no sympathy and getting clamped 7 months after not paying show that they have been extremely lenient.


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    #17
    djimi
    Registered Users Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    DuckHook wrote: »
    Do people think the management company want to be dealing with residents on to them about their cars getting clamped? If you dont pay or engage with them op when you clearly know you are not paying then i have no sympathy and getting clamped 7 months after not paying show that they have been extremely lenient.

    Might want to give the whole thread a read... OP has been making an effort to clear arrears, including paying off half of what was owed (which MC then claimed they knew nothing about).


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    #18
    DuckHook
    Registered Users Posts: 514 ✭✭✭DuckHook


    djimi wrote: »
    Might want to give the whole thread a read... OP has been making an effort to clear arrears, including paying off half of what was owed (which MC then claimed they knew nothing about).

    This does'nt change the fact that the OP knowingly was not paying the management fees and did'nt even engage with them.

    Also who lodges money into a company account and tells them after the fact is this not something you would contact them about before hand.

    It all stems from the op not even bothering to contact the management company before he got clamped. Its always the big bad managements companies fault in these threads and nobody seems willing to accept responsibility for their commitments until the service is refused or in this case clamping is directly affecting them.


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