Car Damage Due to Gate Arm

I park my car in a condo community garage that is accessed with a security fob. Over the course of the past couple of months, the gate arm has malfunctioned and property management has locked the gate in the "up" position until repairs are made.

One day, I saw that the gate was in the up position and did not see a car ahead of me so I drove through. The gate came down on my car and caused damaged to the roof. I guess a previous car had gone through.

I consulted the property manager about the situation and he explained that the gate has a 20 sec time limit for each fob swipe and that the situation with the malfunctioning gate arm has been resolved.

I don't think the operation of the gate arm is clearly communicated to residents. I also think that the recent past performance of the gate arm has led many residents to believe that when the gate arm is up and there is no car in front of you, it is in the locked position and does not require a fob swipe.

Do I have a case to have the property manager help pay for the damage to my car? He stated that the property management is not negligent in this situation.

So you want to continue to assume the gate is broken and will fail to function, and therefore will assume that you don't need to follow the fob swipe procedure that was outlined to you at move in? Sorry, but the onus is on you if you assume it is broken and it isn't. You should always assume it works. Had the gate malfunctioned (was broken) and damaged your car because it was broken while you followed the correct procedure, then it would be their responsibility. But the gate functioned perfectly. You just didn't follow the correct procedure to enter. Not their fault. Sorry.