‘We should help each other,’ says driver facing $100 HOA fines over license plate on her car – she had a reason for breaking the rules

A DRIVER fired shots after an HOA tried to collect fines on a sign asking for a new kidney.

Gabi Morales mounted a decal on the side of her Acura TL sedan asking neighbors for medical help — but the license plate drew the ire of anonymous neighbors and the HOA.

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“It’s a community, you’re supposed to help each other, not tear each other down,” Morales told the Tampa-based NBC affiliate. WFLA in 2018.

Morales, then 23, was waiting for a new kidney.

She told the television station that she was awaiting her second transplant — she originally received her father’s kidney when she was five years old.

Morales’ medical needs required special care, she told local ABC affiliate WFTS-TV.

“Technically, I’m only a match for 1% of the world,” she said.

“It’s a little harder for me to find a date.”

She was on waiting lists at three local hospitals.

A 12-by-10-inch white decal on the side of the car asked neighbors, “Give the gift of life!”

“I have goals that I want to achieve; I want to travel,” Morales added.

Morales was hooked up to a dialysis machine 10 hours a day at the time, limiting her ability to leave the house.

However, the sign also got her in trouble with her home’s HOA.

She said an HOA board member warned the family about a $100 fine for the sign.

“I know there are rules and we have to follow them,” Morales’ mother, Tammi, told the publication.

“But if that doesn’t constitute a reason to break a rule, tell me what does.”

Neighbors went on record with WFTS-TV to express their dismay at the ordinance.

Are you covered by law for parking on public streets?

Parking on public streets is generally legal, even in front of someone’s home, experts say.

Unless the home is in an HOA subdivision, an apartment complex with assigned spaces, or there are laws against parking during certain days or times, it is not illegal to park a vehicle in front of someone’s home on a public street.

“Generally speaking, an individual citizen does not ‘own’ or have any continuing exclusive right to use a parking space on a public street,” he wrote Nolo Legal.

“These spaces are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Most states have rules against vehicles parking in the same location for 72 hours, or blocking fire hydrants, driveways, and driveways, as a vehicle parked in these spaces presents a safety risk.

“It’s really bad that people are complaining,” his neighbor, Rohan Bangera, told the television station.

“They should just let it go.”

However, other neighbors complained to the news station about the off-camera decal.

In January 2024, Morales said he received a new transplant in a Facebook post.

Neither the HOA nor Morales responded to The US Sun’s request for comment for this story.