A family at a Dallas, Texas apartment complex could be forced out of their home after the management company threatened to tow their car because it has a dent on the side. Sontlux Sukhavachana said he received a notice that the damage to his car violates his lease agreement, which states that residents must keep their vehicles maintained. While Sukhavachana agreed to the policy, he cannot afford to get the damage repaired and pay his rent, leaving him with a tough choice, fix the car or miss his monthly rent payment and risk getting evicted.
Complicating matters for the father of three is that his family relies on one income and he would be unable to work if his car is towed.
Fath Properties defended the policy to KTVT-TV, telling the news station that the"policy has been around for close to forty years and has been abided by and appreciated by the vast majority of our residents."
“I don’t feel it is necessary to speak with you directly as this policy has been around for close to forty years and has been abided by and appreciated by the vast majority of our residents. Our policy is clearly communicated to all residents prior to move-in, and the reasoning behind our policy can be found at our website, http://www.fathproperties.com in the section titled 'A Word From Our Owner.' This policy came from our applicants and residents consistently telling us the first thing they looked at were the cars in the parking lot. If the cars were disabled, heavily dented, rusted, unsightly, they assumed the property was poorly operated and their neighbors would be unacceptable.”
Sukhavachana claims that Fath Properties is "discriminating against people who don’t have very much income" and subjectively enforces the rules. One resident claims his car was towed over chipped paint, while another said they towed his car because it was painted in two different colors.
While the complex is busy cracking down on cars that are not well-maintained, residents say they are ignoring other problems with units in the complex.
“They’re not very motivated to repair things or make the apartment look good but they want us to keep our cars in immaculate shape,” Sukhavachana explained.
Sukhavachana was given an extension to get his car fixed but is unsure if he will have enough money to fix his car and pay his rent by the deadline.