Policy, policy, policy. There are few laws which are actually enforced.. damn near everything is arbitrary UCC policy (TM) which can change at any point and the rest of us are subject to it. Sorry to hear about all this, its a joke of system, and especially so when it is only enforced when convenient or beneficial to them.. yet a blind eye is turned when not.
I too have gone through something similar. It is immoral and corrupt, and even worse when people's lives are completely uprooted because of policy infractions.