I live in an apartment complex in Spring and have been leasing a garage for most of the time I've lived here, which is about 18 months (there were none available when I moved in and had to wait a month for one to open up). Last night, I came home to find a vehicle parked in my garage so I had to park in general parking which I don't consider safe, and left the garage door wide open. I sent an email to property staff letting them know of the situation. I wanted to go to the garage and leave a note on the vehicle but contractors started power washing my whole building where I live (working through the night) and it was getting late so I went to bed. When I went out this morning at 6am, I checked the garage and the vehicle was gone but I pinned a note inside the garage anyway.

The staff replied to my email when they opened (at 10am) saying they'd contact the towing company. I replied back that the vehicle was no longer there, so they replied that I could call the towing company if it happened again. I shook my head internally because that solves nothing and how does the towing company know I'm authorized to park in that garage and not the other driver and I don't feel I should be incurring expenses on the property's behalf when I'm not an employee. I kinda feel it opens me up to some sort of liability, though I'm not a lawyer so I don't really know.

I came home today at 6pm and was able to park in my garage. I left later to go grocery shopping and when I returned, the same vehicle was parked there. This time, I was able to to put the note on their windshield so they'd be sure to see it and sent another email to property staff (with photos) asking them to investigate and find out if the garage was inadvertently leased to another resident, because for them to park there 2 days in a row and not find another vehicle already occupying it, they might be doing so confidently believing that's their unit. Does that make sense? I also explained just calling a tow truck doesn't resolve the issue if someone thinks that's their unit, that they need to investigate their records and find out what's going on.

The problems are:

1) the vehicle — a black Chevy Tahoe — is new and has those temporary paper tags. I didn't see one of those obnoxious dealer logos on the back so don't even know where it was purchased.

2) the property was just purchased by another company so the staff is new to this property and they not only manage our property, but they're managing another one from out of our office. They've only been here a couple months and don't seem incredibly responsive (I was actually surprised one of them responded to my email from last night!) and don't seem they have a command of things, like just telling me to call the towing company so that I have to tell them that doesn't solve things. I hate having to do the thinking for people who are supposed to be experienced enough to know how to approach situations properly. And, for the record, my neighbor has also complained to me about how inept and unresponsive they are with him.

I don't know if anyone will read this or care to respond, but ….. has anyone faced a similar situation and know what rights I might have or what course of action should be taken by me or property staff (so I can tell them)? I'm definitely going to the office Saturday morning and I'll be pissed off about this. The office is closed when I leave for work and when I return from work. Any insights, if offered, are greatly appreciated.