Dear PoPville – I got a $250 ticket and tow sticker for parking next to my own apt building

Photo by PoPville flickr user Sanjay Suchak

Dear PoPville,

I live on the 800 block of Rock Creek Church Rd NW, near the Petworth metro. It’s a small 3 story building with a patch of gravel along the side big enough for a few cars to park there. Along the side of the building there are signs that say “no parking, private property, violators towed.” My boyfriend, who lives with me, has been parking his car out there for months because we got the approval of one of our neighbors who is also the “groundskeeper” so to speak. She takes care of the building – cleans it, keeps it in order, etc.

When I came home from work today, she left a note on my door saying that the landlord came by and said we couldn’t park there unless we paid a fee (first time hearing about this fee). I looked out the window and my boyfriend’s car and not only a huge tow sticker on the window but also a $250 ticket!! The violation states: P344 Veh Pri/Pub Prop w/o Consent – but we got consent from our unofficial building manager.

One thing I don’t get is that our landlord came to our place this morning (11am) to leave this note, but did not call either me nor my boyfriend to warn us. Instead he must have called in the car to the police because by the time I got home from work (2pm) the sticker and ticket was already on the car. Is this allowed??

Do we need official consent or is word of mouth from the building keeper enough? Shouldn’t the landlord have called us first instead of reporting our car? In addition, there were three cars out there – one only got a tow sticker and no ticket, and the other car didn’t get anything!! Is this personal?? We’ve been great tenants, I don’t understand. Thanks for any input/advice you have to offer.