Towed from my assigned parking spot - Legal?

[Camaro_94]

Thats BS!

I'd be pissed off if someone wrote on my car, let alone towed it for some stupid reason.

I'd move out ASAP and then tell them to go **** themselves. Who is to say that the car wasnt moved while you were gone? Do they keep tabs on it?

 

[CPRsm]

No, the signs do not make it 100% in their favor. They have to follow requirements for the signs to be legal. here's a link.
V C Section 22658 Removal From Private Property

Statutes 22651 and 53 are for LEO's impounding.58 is for private property and will be the one they need posted. Will usually have (a) after the statute as well. If they don't have all the info I would talk to the towing company because either way it was an illegal tow. Go ask for proof of the authorization. If they don't come up with it, call and report them for an illegal tow right then and there. Don't leave and give them time to go and get it signed AFTER you leave. Get your shit and bullets in order before you show up.

 

[BobDoLeSS]

No, the signs do not make it 100% in their favor. They have to follow requirements for the signs to be legal. here's a link.
V C Section 22658 Removal From Private Property

Statutes 22651 and 53 are for LEO's impounding.58 is for private property and will be the one they need posted. Will usually have (a) after the statute as well. If they don't have all the info I would talk to the towing company because either way it was an illegal tow. Go ask for proof of the authorization. If they don't come up with it, call and report them for an illegal tow right then and there. Don't leave and give them time to go and get it signed AFTER you leave. Get your shit and bullets in order before you show up.

The tow company provided the copy of the authorization form, but it looks like the signature section was purposely excluded.

Here's something... 3rd paragraph down (2) states "The vehicle has been issued a notice of parking violation, and 96 hours have elapsed since the issuance of that notice."
Then... way down on (B)(iv) it says the authorization form should state "The time when the vehicle was first observed parked at the private property."
However, "Time Observed" states 11/16/10 14:03 and the date of the tow was 11/19/10.
This would not allow for the 96 hours to elapse for the notice that was supposedly put on the car prior to the 72 hour chalking.
Is all that irrelevant as it only pertains to the tow driver? Or is it supposed to be when the property manager (signing the authorization) first observed the vehicle?

I will definitely get my shit in order before I show up and I really appreciate the help you guys are providing.

 

[CPRsm]

No, it only has to be one of those sub sections, not all of them. So if they say they towed for any other reason under that section, that's not going to apply. But if they ONLY towed for time parked, then they may have another problem. Not sure how that would work. I can't see them being able to make the time shorter legally. It seems their up a creek honestly. But, if you look a bit up also, you will see all the info they need to fill out. Lic plate, make, model, all that. Also, the last time I towed, you could not go by a general authorization. Each slip had to be towed for each time. If tht thing is not signed, they do no have a leg to stand on.
The chalking is more than likely coming from the driver who towed it the first time. He is coming back to make sure you are moving it. He's more than likely on commission and waiting for you to slip up. If he any sense at all he would put a coin on top of your tire. You won't see it, and give you the sense of urgency to move the car. You see a mark, you move it. PD's use coins.

 

[Willie2]

dont they have anything else better to do? jeez.

 

[KurtDog]

Personally, I would deduct the tow amount from my next rent check and include a copy of the tow reciept with the check. Put the ball back in their court and make them sue you.

 

[Steve@TF]

Personally, I would deduct the tow amount from my next rent check and include a copy of the tow reciept with the check. Put the ball back in their court and make them sue you.

that can get you evicted and open a whole new can of worms. its not the proper way to go about it and likely wouldnt pan out in your favor. the best thing to do would be to take them to small claims court. but even then, if they have an addendum the OP signed and if it stats anywhere in the contract about 72 hours, he's SOL. if it doesn't define "stored" then the case is wide open and up to the judge, who will hopefully find in the OP's favor. hopefully a judge will think its ludicrous that you went on vacation just to come home and find your legally parked car in YOUR personal spot you pay for, towed :bored:

geez and any decent manager would at least give you a heads up with a visit or phone call. have you had warnings before? some managers are just dicks and some just want to make the tow truck guys money (hence the gift basket :kaboom:

that's absolute bs right there man! i would be livid beyond belief! :mj: id take them to small claims court and seriously think about moving. screw them. let them find a new tenant (if you can afford to move and its not a burden). when i moved out of my apartment they had quite a few that were sitting vacant. they begged me to stay!

this is one of many reasons why i absolutely loathe living in an apartment, townhouse, condo etc.... now that i own a home, im the king of my effin castle! if i want to have a car on jackstands for 3 months thats my prerogative!

 

[FordSVTFan]

that can get you evicted and open a whole new can of worms. its not the proper way to go about it and likely wouldnt pan out in your favor. the best thing to do would be to take them to small claims court. but even then, if they have an addendum the OP signed and if it stats anywhere in the contract about 72 hours, he's SOL. if it doesn't define "stored" then the case is wide open and up to the judge, who will hopefully find in the OP's favor. hopefully a judge will think its ludicrous that you went on vacation just to come home and find your legally parked car in YOUR personal spot you pay for, towed :bored:

geez and any decent manager would at least give you a heads up with a visit or phone call. have you had warnings before? some managers are just dicks and some just want to make the tow truck guys money (hence the gift basket :kaboom:

that's absolute bs right there man! i would be livid beyond belief! :mj: id take them to small claims court and seriously think about moving. screw them. let them find a new tenant (if you can afford to move and its not a burden). when i moved out of my apartment they had quite a few that were sitting vacant. they begged me to stay!

this is one of many reasons why i absolutely loathe living in an apartment, townhouse, condo etc.... now that i own a home, im the king of my effin castle! if i want to have a car on jackstands for 3 months thats my prerogative!

Exactly, on all points!! :beer:

 

[harry gilbert]

Before showing up in small claims court, be sure to have everything documented and organized. Take photos of your chalked tires, and be sure to add in a claim for the materials you needed to remove the marks. Mention that's a tactic the management is using to intimidate you. Anything you can show that would demonstrate ill intent or malice on the part of the management may sway the judge in your favor.

Oh, and ask in court if the management can justify the claim of "numerous complaints of an abandoned car" -- if so, why didn't the management attempt to contact you? Were there any notes on your door or slipped into your mail slot upon your return? Any phone messages or e-mails?

 

[Bloostd]

This is ridiculous...

I had the same issue when I was on a TDY with the military for 2 weeks for training. I went into the lease office, with a letter stating my car would be in my covered parking spot for over 2 weeks. They said it was okay.
I came home, The ****er was towed.

I ended up taking them to small claims court. I won, and since I was paying for that spot with monthly rent, the judge favored with the cost of towing, and the hassle of me going out of my way, they were obligated to "pay for my parking spot for the month" which gave me a months free of rent =D. After that month, I pulled my shit together, dropped orders on their asses and have NEVER done the apartment thing ever again.

If you have any judge who still has their senses and listens to your case.... ( most don't give a rats ass) you should have no issue.

Whats up with everyone being a little pussy these days? especially in California.

good luck man...

 

[BobDoLeSS]

I'm pretty sure it says nowhere that 72 hours constitutes a stored vehicle.

They made no attempt to try to call me, leave a note on the door or drop anything in the mailbox. Regardless, they might lie and say they did anyway if they're being consistent.

I wouldn't try to deduct rent as I'm sure they would love to open that can of worms on me now that I'm not letting this crap go. In fact, I started paying my rent online so my rent check doesn't magically vanish.

I am definitely ready to move out like NOW. I don't even mind paying the penalty for early termination of the lease. I'm tempted to buy a condo not too far away just to get away from this crap... but then you got the HOA property manager to deal with which could always be a problem too (not even considering assessments for repairing all the old shit that's falling apart on them). And home prices where I live haven't hit their appropriate bottom.

I have spoken with a few lawyers who are all in agreement with me, but none of them can represent me based on the low dollar amount of it all. The courts have some kind of program where they pay for mediation services. I got one of those going and spoke with the mediator. He's got the emails and is going to keep escalating the issue up the chain of management until he gets a hold of someone with half a brain who will explain WTF is going on.

Just kind of have to wait until he gets back to me or until I get back home and get to court as I plan on doing ASAP unless this mediator pulls a miracle and manages to part the sea of bullshit.

Thanks again for your help.


I just realized this section of the forum pulls up in google searches so I took the liberty of removing some details as I don't want to expose certain key positions of my argument when judgement day arrives.

 

[svtcop]

Good luck man. It may be a long process but keep us posted.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

Updates ? :shrug:

 

[BobDoLeSS]

Updates ? :shrug:

Still out of town for work (feels like forever). I haven't heard back from the mediator, so I'm guessing they're not talking/responding to him as I figured would be the case. Unless he pulled a miracle, the plan is still to file as soon as I get back. Next update probably won't be until after Christmas, but I should have them served by then.

There are countless other residents who complain about towing on ALL of the review sites. Most of them are where they park their car against a red curb and its gone less than 5 minutes later though, but there are others about multiple cars getting towed out of the garage in a day.

 

[ponyboyisaac]

Man this is messed up. I hope it all works out for you in the end. Subing to see how this ends.

 

[Silver2003Cobra]

thinking.. find out if any of your neighbors are having the same thing done, tires chalked, vehicles towed if they are away on vacation etc.. if they are, this could end up as a class action lawsuit against the leasing company.. could be worth A LOT more than what your trying to get out of it...

 

[BRNG ITT]

A guy I worked with had the same exact thing happen to him during a 1 week under-way we went on. Come to find out, the tow truck driver/co-owner of the tow company was the brother of a girl that worked in the apartment complex front office. He never pursued the issue in court because the apartment management "graciously" gave him 3 months of free rent due to "mistakingly" towing his car.

 

[FordSVTFan]

thinking.. find out if any of your neighbors are having the same thing done, tires chalked, vehicles towed if they are away on vacation etc.. if they are, this could end up as a class action lawsuit against the leasing company.. could be worth A LOT more than what your trying to get out of it...

That would be a tough class to make. Also, in the end only the lawyers will make money in this type of class action. It will be hard to find a good class action firm to take it without a retainer.

 

[Steve@TF]

thinking.. find out if any of your neighbors are having the same thing done, tires chalked, vehicles towed if they are away on vacation etc.. if they are, this could end up as a class action lawsuit against the leasing company.. could be worth A LOT more than what your trying to get out of it...

this isnt Erin Brokovich where he'd be suing for $100mill for people's lives being ruined lol. you'd first have to have 100 plaintiffs to establish a class action suit. 100 plaintiffs that were wrongfully towed at that. then, how much can they squeeze out of a small company that runs apartment buildings?? how much of a penalty could they really apply? $500 a piece?? $1000 per plaintiff would be really high in this case. and then the attorney would get about 40% of it at least.

class action suits are good because they have "power in numbers". thats all. typically lawyers will charge even more to handle a case like that because they front all of the costs, win or lose and its a LOT more work. i got a letter stating that i was entitled to a $50 rebate on my car insurance because there was a class action suit against Mercury by customers who were overcharged. $50.... if you STILL have mercury lol. oh boy! :dancenana:

or like when ford owners get $1000 off their next ford purchase lol. yeah, thanks ford :rollseyes

meanwhile the attorney is :dancenana: all the way to the bank.

 

[Boss75]

Subbing for future updates