This has Never Happen before..why now?

[kendra1982]

On the 2/21 at 7:00pm I went over my my friends house to eat dinner with her.Now I have been overto her house before and have parked in her apartment complex lot with no problem before, a matter of fact i have stayed over at her house for 5 to 6 hours at a time! Well it was getting late so i left her house at 9:40pm to go home.Once i went outsdie in her parking lot to get my car it was gone no where in site.I immediatley started to panic and went back up to my friends house to tell her that eithier my car was stolen or that it had been towed.I know i did not illegal park and i had parked in a lot with quite a few open parking lots next to me! My friend had called her 24 emergency nubmer which is the care taker to see if maybe it was towed.The care taker then called back like 20 minutes later stating that if i did not have a permit sticker on my car that it was probladly towed and that i would have to pay 280.42 to get it out at my expense! We asked her who authorized for my car to be told and she told us call the Tow Company and deal with them point blank.We called the tow company to see if in deed it was there and yes sir it was! i asked them who authorized for my car to be towed and they told me that they could not tell me that all they could say was that my car is down in the lot.My friend and I where so angry i had parked there many times with no problems and my friend had spoke with the care taker in august of 2006 to see if it was ok for her guests to park in the parking lot sicne people where staying at her house for a wedding.They told her that it was fine not a problem.As my boyfriend and i where leaving her apartment lot we noticed a sign up stating PARKING POLICY PERMIT PARKIING ONLY NO VISITOR PARKING PROPERTY IS BEING WATCHED 24HOURS A DAY CEDAR TOWING MINNEAPLOIS,MN 280.42 MANGEMENT NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPENESES OR LOSS.After we got my car out of the lot i had spoke to the guy who towed my car and he stated that they had a deal with the parking lot to patrol the complex and tow cars.The next day 2/21/07 my friend and i went to the management office to speak to the mangers sercetary since the manger was not in and she stated that my friend who is a resident was given a sheet that stated that all visitors have to park on a city street after 5pm or they could be towed.My friend states she never received that form when she moved in nor is there a spot for her signature on the form stating she understnads the rules nor does the mangement have a copy in their file that my friend signed this notice eithier! My friend even looked over her Lease and it does not even state in the Lease about vistors that come should not park on the lot and should park on the street after 5pm!I also asked for a copy of the notice from the sercetary and there is not an effective date at the bottom of the notice of when this went in effect! Can I do anything? or am I out 280 bucks? please help!!

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I am really sorry to hear about your predicament. You are definitely not alone and it's an infuriating experience. Unfortunately, you may be better off calling this a hard lesson since you have very little basic for complaint. I'll try to summarize:

1) If you park on private property, as long as there is a sign that clearly states that violators will be towed, you will have a problem. If this sign wasn't clearly shown then you might have a case. But remember, you'll probably need a pretty egregious example if you are going to make an example out of this case.

2) Your casual conversation with the caretaker months ago will likely not help you and may hurt you. After all, it's almost a presumption that you knew you might have a problem but got it cleared for that one time with the caretaker - if that person remembers.

3) The fact that you "got away with it before" doesn't mean they can't ticket you for this occasion.

4) The clincher - There are a couple of parties you have to deal with - the lot owner and the towing company. They didn't need YOUR authorization to tow your car. All they needed was the authorization of the property owner who will state that they warned you with the sign. If someone parks their care on the grass in your front yard on your private property, do you think you need their permission to tow their car? Regardless, this isn't a "no harm no foul" issue. The tow truck company will keep their money. You have to hope you get it back from the apartment complex (or co-op.) You will likely need to go to small claims... and if you do, you're going to need a lot of proof (which you questionably have) and it may also cause a problem for your friend who is currently a resident there.

Good luck with this. You can try, but you'll likely need strong proof of a lack of an adequate warning to you.

On the 2/21 at 7:00pm I went over my my friends house to eat dinner with her.Now I have been overto her house before and have parked in her apartment complex lot with no problem before, a matter of fact i have stayed over at her house for 5 to 6 hours at a time! Well it was getting late so i left her house at 9:40pm to go home.Once i went outsdie in her parking lot to get my car it was gone no where in site.I immediatley started to panic and went back up to my friends house to tell her that eithier my car was stolen or that it had been towed.I know i did not illegal park and i had parked in a lot with quite a few open parking lots next to me! My friend had called her 24 emergency nubmer which is the care taker to see if maybe it was towed.The care taker then called back like 20 minutes later stating that if i did not have a permit sticker on my car that it was probladly towed and that i would have to pay 280.42 to get it out at my expense! We asked her who authorized for my car to be told and she told us call the Tow Company and deal with them point blank.We called the tow company to see if in deed it was there and yes sir it was! i asked them who authorized for my car to be towed and they told me that they could not tell me that all they could say was that my car is down in the lot.My friend and I where so angry i had parked there many times with no problems and my friend had spoke with the care taker in august of 2006 to see if it was ok for her guests to park in the parking lot sicne people where staying at her house for a wedding.They told her that it was fine not a problem.As my boyfriend and i where leaving her apartment lot we noticed a sign up stating PARKING POLICY PERMIT PARKIING ONLY NO VISITOR PARKING PROPERTY IS BEING WATCHED 24HOURS A DAY CEDAR TOWING MINNEAPLOIS,MN 280.42 MANGEMENT NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPENESES OR LOSS.After we got my car out of the lot i had spoke to the guy who towed my car and he stated that they had a deal with the parking lot to patrol the complex and tow cars.The next day 2/21/07 my friend and i went to the management office to speak to the mangers sercetary since the manger was not in and she stated that my friend who is a resident was given a sheet that stated that all visitors have to park on a city street after 5pm or they could be towed.My friend states she never received that form when she moved in nor is there a spot for her signature on the form stating she understnads the rules nor does the mangement have a copy in their file that my friend signed this notice eithier! My friend even looked over her Lease and it does not even state in the Lease about vistors that come should not park on the lot and should park on the street after 5pm!I also asked for a copy of the notice from the sercetary and there is not an effective date at the bottom of the notice of when this went in effect! Can I do anything? or am I out 280 bucks? please help!!

 

[seniorjudge]

Kendra, your post indicates that you knew you were illegally parked.

Is that correct?

 

[kendra1982]

Kendra, your post indicates that you knew you were illegally parked.

Is that correct?

No i am sorry i meant to say i knew that i was not illegally parked at all

Is it worth going to small claims? Would I even have a chance to get my 280.42 dollars back? or end up spending more?

 

[seniorjudge]

No i am sorry i meant to say i knew that i was not illegally parked at all

Is it worth going to small claims? Would I even have a chance to get my 280.42 dollars back? or end up spending more?

You said you did not have a permit sticker.

That meant you were illegally parked.

 

[emoye]

Another Towing Issue

I've had a similar but distinct experience with towing recently. I too was illegally parked in a private lot. I did not have a valid permit that would allow me to be parked in the lot, and I admit that I was fully at fault. However, when I picked up my car, I looked over the receipt to discover that the address that my car was supposedly towed from is not the address at which I was parked. The address on the receipt is a parking lot a block or two away from where I was parked. At that time, I asked the man working at the towing company why the address was incorrect, and his explained it by saying that the same person owns both lots. Additionally, the authorizing signature is illegible. How am I to know that the towing company wasn't just perusing the lot looking to make an easy $280 off any car that didn't have a permit? Would it be worth my time to pursue this in small claims court?