I recently visited some friends for dinner at their new apartment in a large 300 unit complex. After dinner, when I got back to where I had parked I saw the parking space was empty.
After a feeling of utter dread and panic, I frantically searched around thinking that perhaps I was mistaken about where I had parked; but after a couple of rounds of searching the parking lot I knew that my car was gone.
Initially I thought my car had been stolen, but then noticed a small and obscure towing sign with a company contact number. Given it was a decent neighborhood and I was not in a resident parking space, I slowly realized the car was most likely towed rather than stolen.
So I called the towing company and sure enough they had my car. I tried to tell the company that I had legally parked, but could not negotiate with them since they said they were just working on the apartment management group’s instructions.
Also, typical of most towing companies who rarely need to worry about customer service or satisfaction, they were rude and offered little in terms of recourse to resolve my situation. Given I needed the car for getting to work the next day, I went with one of friends to pick it up.
After paying the $150 towing charge I was able to retrieve my car, but suffice to say I was not a happy camper.
I had definitely parked in a spot that was not reserved with no signs indicating visitor parking was not allowed; and my friends were pretty sure that when they signed the lease there were no parking restriction in non-reserved visitor spaces.
In fact they had parked, without tags or permits, in similar spots to mine over the last 2 weeks and never got towed. So after venting for a few days, I decided to look at my state’s towing laws, what rights I had and what people in situations similar to mine had done. Here’s a summary of what I found and things to keep in mind.
Check you did not violate parking rules : The first thing to check is that you parked in a legal spot. Make sure that there is no signage at the entry to the parking lot or in nearby spots that indicates you could be illegally parked.
If possible check the lease of the person who is renting the apartment, which should state parking restrictions and visitor parking in the apartment complex.
Finally call the apartment managers to log a complaint and ask them why your car was towed. They will likely be more helpful than the towing company, particular since they have to care about their tenant’s rights (like having visitors be able to park when they come over).
Proof of the towing: Get proof that the towing company followed state procedures regarding the towing. This requires that they take a picture of the car in the “illegal” spot and notify the local police department to ensure the car is not classified as stolen.
Getting the pictures of the towing from the towing company is not easy and you will likely have to go back a couple of days later to get the digital photos. Expect a charge for this.
Call the local police department: You should also call the local police department where the towing company is located to check it they actually reported your car as towed.
The police though cannot force the towing company to give back your car and can only come out to keep the peace if discussions get heated and act as a witness.
However, don’t expect the police department to be much of an ally since this is a pretty minor item in their eyes and they have much more of a relationship with the towing company operators, than with you.
Don’t be a hero: The number one mistake victims make is to take matters into their own hands by taking aggressive actions with the towing company. By doing that you make the other person (i.e the towing company) the victim and you become the criminal.
If you go to jail the tow company wins. So work with or through the police to make the initial complaint. Then follow local procedures to take the matter further if discussions with the towing company and apartment managers cannot resolve the dispute.
Predatory towing is real: Once a towing company has a vehicle, they impound the vehicle and refuse to release it until a desired fee is paid. If the fee is not paid, the vehicle is not released, and storage fees begin to accrue until the surpass the value of the vehicle. At some point, the towing company will auction off the vehicle and keep their towing and storage fees.
The typical vehicle owner does not understand the laws enacted to protect them, do not have sufficient vacation time to try to enforce them in local courts against an experienced attorney representing the towing company, and can’t get the local police to help protect their rights because the police are not familiar with this area of law.
Legal rights and local laws: Most states have towing laws that are supported by the auto insurance industry as well as consumer and government groups to prevent increased insurance costs due to negligent towing by towing operators, protect vehicle owners from abusive practices, and to help regulate towing companies.
Most local governments have also passed predatory towing laws to help consumers. All they need to to do is spend some time searching for them.
For example in California, under vehicle code 22658 a tow company can not tow your car from private property with 15 or more units based on a blanket authorization order from the landlord or association. In other words a towing company operating in the State of California can’t just drive through a complex looking for cars to tow in the middle of the night.
Someone has to call them. The person who calls them must be present at the time the car is being towed. They must tell the tow company why the car is being towed. They have to point out the car being towed. The have to sign the authorization papers at the time the car is being towed and give their complete name, address and phone number.
Many other states have also passed similar laws to prevent abuses by towing operators during towing from private property. This includes maximum fees ranging from $125 to $250 and requiring towing operators to release vehicles about to be towed if the owner arrives.
Apartment managers must also display proper signage at entrances are around parking areas giving certain notifying information to vehicle owners about parking restrictions, maximum allowed fees for towing and storage.
A little known rule, which most people don’t realize and towing companies ignore is that no towing fee may be charged for the first 24 hours of storage. Further, towing companies must accept credit card payments and not restrict payments to cash only.
Next steps: Unfortunately I needed my car back and already paid the towing fine. But with an understanding of the law, I am going to go after the towing company and apartment complex managers to try and get my money back.
Remember knowledge is power. If your car is towed you need to know the law to take the appropriate course of action. This includes finding a lawyer and taking legal action in some cases.
I’ll let you know what happens with my efforts to get the $150 of towing charges back. Feel free to leave a comment or any advice if you have had a similar experience.
My car was towed last night in Fremont, California. It was parked outside an apartment complex which are for guests and there were no signs of “Restricted Parking” or “Permit Required”. My Friend whom I was visiting forgot to mention me about it and also since there were no signs, I didn’t think I had to clear it with my friend. Anyways it does not make sense to me how one would know if a permit is required to park there. Any suggestions? I had to pay ~$550 to get my car back.
I parked my car in a grocery store parking lot where there was no public signage saying overnight parking was illegal / towing was possible. The towing company was cash only, and charged me $174, which is more than the $108 legal maximum fee in Massachusetts. They also only let me pay cash, wouldn’t give me a receipt, or tell me what the charges were. Is this wrong or normal?
Seems very shady. You should report the company to MA authorities and leave negative google/yelp/FB reviews for these companies. Other than legal actions, leaving negative online reviews can have the most impact to these companies.
Hi! Having a similar situation -please let me know if you were successful in your case, I am also pursuing one. I was towed from a totally vacant, apparently private, lot that had ABSOLUTELY NO SIGNS anywhere saying that it was a private lot, that they tow, who tows there, etc- illegal.
Steps you should take if this happens to you:
1.) File a police report immediately
– this is when you will see if the towing company towed properly. If your vehicle wasn’t called in over the comsat system and doesn’t have a number assigned to it’s tow then you immediately have a case against the towing company, as they have violated lawful procedures.
2.) Contact the Property manager
-The Property manage has lawful obligations to notify you prior to the vehicle being towed. If you don’t have a contracted parking agreement in place and nobody can reach you because your info isn’t on file, you are probably screwed and you have now learned a costly lesson. But, if you are a tenant in an apartment building and your vehicle is on file then they are obligated to make you aware, in some cities/states they have to make multiple attempts.
-The property manager should also be able to provide you the towing company contact information and will have had to instruct the towing company on which vehicle was to be towed, in a gated community they will will have had to given the towing company access so if they fail to follow proper state and local law then you now have a 2nd case.
-Also, keep in mind that in some states you are entitled to multiple times the costs/damages associated with the entirety of the tow and even punitive damages. If you have a parking company that manages your apartment complex’s parking then you will have 3 total entities that are responsible and liable.
3.) Contact an attorney
This is where things can get expensive, if you are lucky you can get someone pro bono that hates seeing towing companies come out on top. Consult with someone to advise you on which of your rights have been violated according to your state law. Make sure to keep records of everything that happens, present those records to the attorney, be sure to include pictures and receipts.
Personally I recommend getting your vehicle out of the tow yard asap to keep that cost down and then the attorney will handle all the work from there and advise any actions you should take.
Look at it like this:
Tow=$700, Attorney fees= $5000, Car rental=$1000, time missed from work= $1000, tow damages to vehicle= $1500, vehicle value = $5000, getting vehicle back $200, misc = $500. Multiply those amounts by whatever the maximum is you can in your state to give you an idea of how serious your complex, tow company, and attorney should be taking this. If your vehicle is wrongfully the parties involved need to be held accountable for their actions and the best way to do that is financially, they are doing it to other people and will do it again. These suits can be much more serious than getting your tow fee back if laws were broken and your rights have been violated.
DO NOT LOSE YOUR COOL, DO NOT THREATEN ANYONE, DO NOT THREATEN A LAWSUIT.
Keep your mouth shut, rely on family and friends to help get you through this rough patch, and let the lawyer do his job. No apartment complex, parking company, or tow company will want this publicized and they will likely settle out of court and the insurance companies will pay up.
Thanks for the clear and detailed reply.
This has happened to me recently and they took two of My vehicles one being my daily driver and the other being my prize possession that I spent the past 10 years building and had almost $20,000 invested into. They were taken off private property when they both ran and drove. There only reason for towing was do to tags a few months out of date. But since they took both my vehicles I had no way make it to work in order to pay the impound fees and have now been auctioned off..I live in Iowa.
Thanks this is very helpful I have the same situation and this helped a lot. Could you please tell me if the law take any legal action against the towing company after that?
Unethical action
I am in the same situation my car will start from the hotel the Days inn in West Covina didn’t have any signs or anything my car wasn’t even there an hour it was only there like 20 minutes and it got towed without notify me of anything which from what I understand is that the karma theater over an hour for it to be told and the towing company just to put it back down they charge me $340 to put down my car and release it it didn’t even get towed away not even a block couple feet up from the hotel… What time does the towing company have a contract together so now it explains why the hotel wants a car is towed I’m sure how they have a contract together he must be getting some kind of compensation for calling the cars or something in exchange since they have a contract together I’m still trying to go about how will I start this how will I put it out there because I’m pretty sure as me this is more victims and I’m sure there’s a lot more people that have lost their cars because they cannot afford the towing fees… Does anybody have any advice or anything for this please message me thank you
It is illegal for them to tow your car if parked legally in public parking for the first hour in California.
One Hour Tows
If the property has free parking open to the public then a vehicle can be towed after it has been improperly parked for one hour.
This applies to restaurants, stores and other places which are private property, there is no charge to enter and park, and the property is open to the public to enter. This does not include motel/hotel spaces for specific rooms or apartments and other residential property where a space is marked for a room. If the spaces are unmarked then the one hour rule applies.
If a vehicle is towed before it has been parked for an hour the penalty is two times the towing and storage fees.
(Vehicle Code 22953)
Hope this helps
I took my registered insured vehicle across the street to my friend’s apt complex. He was preparing to buy it. The next day some one had stolen the plates, we left a note for the landlord on their answering machine, called the cops about the stolen plates and informed the nieghbor and then the next day the lousey dog townan “ENCHANTMENT TOWING” Ignored the writing on the windshield with the plate number and the insurance certificate that I left in the front windshield area and took my jeep.. I’m going tomorrow morning to try to settle this. ANY WORDS OF ADVICE?
Help me please my car was towed while I was in jail and I live in it
A friend had mine illegally towed the investigating officer went to her house and told her she has to pay me $100,800 she lied about it so under Colorado law she has to pay me I’m going to look into having her pay my car rental
I just had a massive win against a tow truck. I heard the truck pull up so I immediately grabbed my registration stickers that I had already purchased. I just hadnt put them on yet. I quickly put them on the front license plate then walked around and put them on the back plate. I walked up to the guy and was like what are you doing? He goes I’m towing this vehicle for expired tags. I said you might want to look again. He got really mad and said he had pictures that proved those werent there when he pulled up. The cops were called and long story short they made him release the vehicle. I could tell he was pissed. I made sure to give him the finger as he drove off without my car.
Nice win!
Hey did u wind the case ?
My car was towed from my apartment complex and it was an illegal tow I did all my research and it was a clear violation of my rights my property management authorized an illegal tow it’s supposed to be permanent parking only for residents and I had my permit issued by property Management in my window cuz it’s a sticker now my property management said first it was a stolen permit I know for a fact is not because the property manager handed it to me herself then they tried to say it was not valid if the validity was taken from the permit then how come I wasn’t notified of this they also said that my car had no tags no registration that’s impossible because I had proof it was paid $961 back registration I paid a month and a half before the tow plus I have the proof that she did give me a permit there’s the camera footage from the apartments of the office and the email I sent her stating my insurance information and car vehicle information so that will prove that she got caught in a lie the reason why I didn’t have my taxes cuz I’m waiting for a smog cars not quite ready for smog yet either way she couldn’t authorize the tow to begin with cuz I had a permit to park there. Talk to the tow company and they’re not budging saying it was legal cuz she authorized it but looking at the law they had numerous things that they didn’t follow one of the things is my car was not blocking the red zone was not blocking a fire hydrant and was not blocking the entrance nor are the stalls assigned to anybody the first come first serve for the residents but you have to have a permit which I did my car was in my stall they also put a warning sticker on my car the first time that’s ever happened by the way stating that no permit no registration you will be towed on the second day at 9:00 a.m. they towed my car three and a half hours after the notice was put on my vehicle California law states in order to be towed at all from the apartment complex 96 hours must lapse before you can tow California law was not following the notice that they put on there was not followed no property Management wants to evict me i think in retaliation for me pushing the issue about my car. I couldn’t pay my rent cuz my money orders we’re in my car my car is at the tow yard still I can’t afford to get it out I am low income I’m trying right now to raise money from family and friends or anybody who will help right now my car is at $2,000 to get out I only have about 1100 I’ve managed to hustle up this is extremely frustrating annoying and flat out illegal I got a 3-day notice to pay it or quit and now I got served the eviction court papers all that to add the stress on about my car towing company refuses to release my car while it takes on $100 a day I’ve talked to police they’re no help they don’t even hardly know the law I can’t talk to property Management because I got a case against them now or with them and I’m scared I’m going to lose my car it’s the only thing I have to get to work I just replaced the front end of my car myself and that’s why I’m tapped out what do I do somebody please help I’m literally going to have a nervous breakdown from all the stress I’m getting no help I’m getting evicted and I’m losing my car I’m trying to kill the raise money still cuz I refuse to lose my car and got the lean paper and I entered the declaration of opposition waiting to give it to the DMV myself personally I can’t afford a lawyer need to pro bono attorneys but they’re few and far and hard to come by especially for this particular faction of law. The property management is the Jon Stewart company. They are horrible evil and flat out worst company I have ever dealt with with the human rights violations civil rights violations and flat-out line and illegal practices that they do I can’t believe they’re still in business just type in the John stewart company lawsuits in Google and you will see all the lawsuits against them and all the eviction lawsuits they have on people for nothing I’m losing hope somebody please help me
You’re first mistake is living in California. When it comes to taxes and fees that place will rob you blind.
OK I’ve been reading for weeks on towing laws & read other people’s situations & most importantly I’ve been searching for an attorney to help me. I know I have a case but all I seeing is advertising for lemon laws & accident attorney’s. It’s Friday and Monday the lien will clear on my motorcycle and it will be gone. I printed out the towing laws & highlighted all the errors the property manager had made and presented them to him & he laughed in my face. He is very errogant & the first time I spoke with him he said he thought the bike belonged to somebody else who was not allowed on the property then told me the bike looked like it was abandoned but it had only been parked there since 5:00 AM and he towed it that morning. I seriously need an attorney now. If anybody can refer one that can work on contingency please do ASAP!
My Car was towed from my complex while in my correct parking place. Reason they towed it was my permit was not visible, it fell from my mirror. I paid 500.00 the next day to have my vehicle released. I feel that this was illegal, I’m a paying resident, car was in my parking place, and the complex is private property. Do I have a case?
Determine the going rate for renting the car they towed. Send the party responsible for the tow a bill for renting the car.
Class action lawsuit is what needs to be done
I am on the same situation
I am a resident and forget to put my parking permit, I had to pay $150, I went ahead and paid because I had to use my car to work but I am trying to get a refund beck from the property management