Yesterday I stepped out of my house to go to work only to find that my car was missing. I knew that I had parked legally, my tags were up-to-date, and that I had locked the car, so I called the police to report the car stolen. An officer came by and took my info, ran my plates/VIN/etc. Nothing came up. He said it was likely towed (since there was no broken glass) and stripped for parts in some out-of-the-way lot.
I've been racking my brain since then in hopes of coming up with a scenario in which my car was towed legitimately. The only thing I could think of was that I hadn't gotten emissions inspection recently - maybe I never received notification and my emissions were out-of-date. I called the MVA to check out this theory and I was correct - my car was due in last September and my registration had been cancelled/voided in October, all without me receiving notification. To make things even more fun, the MVA did not know if my car could be/had been towed because of this.
I started calling around Baltimore City impound lots and found that one did have my car. Now I'm lucky enough to get a ride out to the ghetto and pay hundreds of dollars to get my car back.
Anyone been in/heard of a situation like this? Thank god that my car wasn't stolen, but I'm almost more pissed now that I know what happened. I know it's a longshot, but I'd like to go after the MVA/city/responsible party for the costs associated with this ordeal (towing fees and late fees that the f*ckers are sure to try to pin on me). Fat chance, eh? A gov't agency shouldn't be allowed to revoke your registration without notice, let alone steal your car in the middle of the night without notice. The icing on the cake is that the police either don't have access or don't care to access the database of invalid registrations and towed cars.
Update
Apparently I jumped to an incorrect conclusion yesterday. Although the MVA did indeed cancel my registration without notice and my car was in the city impound lot, they weren't the reason it appeared there. Turns out that my car WAS stolen. A cop found it, called it in because the plates were "hot", and the city towed it to the impound for $115. I'd have never learned that my car was recovered unless I called the impound lot. Pretty f*cked up. Anyway, I picked it up this morning to find that my amp, line driver, speakers, subwoofer, floor mats, wheel lock, glasses, CD's, personal papers, etc, etc had all been stolen. Probably $3,000 worth of property, nothing of which is covered by car insurance. Gotta see if homeowners covers it now.
The thieves were nice enough to leave a pocket knife in the backseat of the car. I don't suppose the cops could be bothered to pull fingerprints from it, though.
I've been racking my brain since then in hopes of coming up with a scenario in which my car was towed legitimately. The only thing I could think of was that I hadn't gotten emissions inspection recently - maybe I never received notification and my emissions were out-of-date. I called the MVA to check out this theory and I was correct - my car was due in last September and my registration had been cancelled/voided in October, all without me receiving notification. To make things even more fun, the MVA did not know if my car could be/had been towed because of this.
I started calling around Baltimore City impound lots and found that one did have my car. Now I'm lucky enough to get a ride out to the ghetto and pay hundreds of dollars to get my car back.
Anyone been in/heard of a situation like this? Thank god that my car wasn't stolen, but I'm almost more pissed now that I know what happened. I know it's a longshot, but I'd like to go after the MVA/city/responsible party for the costs associated with this ordeal (towing fees and late fees that the f*ckers are sure to try to pin on me). Fat chance, eh? A gov't agency shouldn't be allowed to revoke your registration without notice, let alone steal your car in the middle of the night without notice. The icing on the cake is that the police either don't have access or don't care to access the database of invalid registrations and towed cars.
Update
Apparently I jumped to an incorrect conclusion yesterday. Although the MVA did indeed cancel my registration without notice and my car was in the city impound lot, they weren't the reason it appeared there. Turns out that my car WAS stolen. A cop found it, called it in because the plates were "hot", and the city towed it to the impound for $115. I'd have never learned that my car was recovered unless I called the impound lot. Pretty f*cked up. Anyway, I picked it up this morning to find that my amp, line driver, speakers, subwoofer, floor mats, wheel lock, glasses, CD's, personal papers, etc, etc had all been stolen. Probably $3,000 worth of property, nothing of which is covered by car insurance. Gotta see if homeowners covers it now.
The thieves were nice enough to leave a pocket knife in the backseat of the car. I don't suppose the cops could be bothered to pull fingerprints from it, though.
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