Condo Security Guards: What are the duties and obligations of security guards? What can an owner in distress expect? What exactly are condo owners and HOA members paying for?
I wrote the following letter to our property manager following an incident with our condo security company. The security company owner apologized and the guard in question was removed from our property. Both the property manager and owner agreed that his behavior was unacceptable.
I want to file a complaint against the security guard who was on duty last night. I used the flashing lights on my car around 6:15 pm, but failed to turn them off. A resident phoned me three hours later She noticed the lights from her window and warned that my battery was draining.
In fact, by the time I reached the car, the battery was dead.
It was impossible for the security guard to miss the flashing lights, since I park near the entrance to the building. He undoubtedly saw them blinking while he circled the lot, but didn’t bother to phone me.
I found him riding around in his little vehicle, no more than 30 feet from my car. I demanded to know why he failed to alert me. The guard replied: “It’s not my job. My job is to stop cars that shouldn’t park here.”
WHAT? I then said, “It’s your job to warn residents if their lights are on. You work for us. WE pay your
salary.”He said: “No, it isn’t my job. If I have free time, then I might do something. But it’s the resident’s problem, not mine.”
I waved down a passing cab and asked for help. Our security guard watched with amusement while the cab driver jumped my car with cables I had on hand.
Another owner left her parking lights on several months ago. But the guard on duty that night never phoned. How much effort could it possibly be? Clearly, our security guards think they work for bricks and mortar, not for the people who pay their salaries.
A security guard also plastered a visitor’s car with the type of warning stickers that can’t easily be removed. What’s wrong with this picture? The visitor had a temporary parking permit hanging in clear site!
Imagine if there was a life-threatening emergency? How fast would our guard would he drive his little cart in the opposite direction?
Respectfully…