Neighbor has my car towed without permission.....

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Mackie2k

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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The Quick and Dirty version:

I have a 2nd car, my friend stores it at his home for me. The car is in running condition, not damaged.

He owns the townhome he lives in, and he's allocated two spots to park. He has my 2nd car, and his car parked there for the past 6 months. There are no stickers or registration for parking here, just incase you are wondering.

Thursday, someone has it towed. They didn't put notes anywhere, contact anyone who lives there (only 8 unit townhome complex), nothing.

I don't feel that I should have to pay the $350-$400 fee that's it going to cost me to pull this thing outta storage.

But, I'm going to pick it up today, and then call the people who had it towed away.

If they won't take care of the costs, or at least split it with me, do I have a good case to sue them in Small Claims court?

Thanks,

Mackie



 
halik

halik

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
25,696
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Umm legally you cannot tow a car off a property that you don't own. Something smells fishy.

In either case, I would have your friend do the dealing so you have more leverage. If he just tells em that someone towed HIS car from HIS spot, it will have a lot more effect
 
E

EngenZerO

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2001
5,099
2
0
no idea, but good luck.

there may be a state law that says if a car remains stationary in one location for x amount of months it may be towed.
 
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Garet Jax

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2000
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Depends on the HOA in the complex. Some rules say that storing a car is not allowed. If they can prove you were storing the car (which you were), then they were OK towing it.
 
M

Mackie2k

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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Well, that's what is odd. I'll find out who had the car towed today when I pick it up.

Most of the people there are Renters, so if they lied to have the car towed, I'll get them that way.

It's my thought that the renter called the landlord, and he had it towed.

But doesn't he have at least a minimum responsibility to check with other owners with live in that complex?
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
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Why not ask a lawyer instead of a bunch of strangers on the internet?

Oh, and, I agree with halik.
 
W

Whisper

Diamond Member
Feb 25, 2000
5,394
2
81
You'd probably have the check your friend's renter's/owner's/whatever agreement to see if there are any vehicle stipulations in there. I know many times, there will be clauses prohibiting the use of parking areas for car/truck "storage."
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
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Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Depends on the HOA in the complex. Some rules say that storing a car is not allowed. If they can prove you were storing the car (which you were), then they were OK towing it.
Click to expand...
Exactly... You technically didn't have a right parking it there, but your friend would have if it were his property. But if there are no HOA rules in place, you might be able to wrestle with them, but you may need to call your friend for backup...
 
M

Mackie2k

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Depends on the HOA in the complex. Some rules say that storing a car is not allowed. If they can prove you were storing the car (which you were), then they were OK towing it.
Click to expand...
Exactly... You technically didn't have a right parking it there, but your friend would have if it were his property. But if there are no HOA rules in place, you might be able to wrestle with them, but you may need to call your friend for backup...
Click to expand...


The HOA rules don't say anything about "storing" a car, to our knowledge. My friend will back me up 100%. As far as they will be concerned, I was giving the car to his kid to work on as a project car. In either case, no one did anything to assertain the owner of the vehicle. It would have taken 10 minutes to place notes on 4 doors (only 4 townhomes park vehicles here)
 
G

Garet Jax

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2000
6,369
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Originally posted by: halik
Umm legally you cannot tow a car off a property that you don't own. Something smells fishy.

In either case, I would have your friend do the dealing so you have more leverage. If he just tells em that someone towed HIS car from HIS spot, it will have a lot more effect
Click to expand...

In the case of HOA, that is not true.

If the HOA rules allow it, then neighbours can get vehicles violating a rule towed.

Some tow places won't tow if the person doesn't own the property where the offending vehicle is parked, but that is up to them.
 
A

acemcmac

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
13,712
1
0
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Depends on the HOA in the complex. Some rules say that storing a car is not allowed. If they can prove you were storing the car (which you were), then they were OK towing it.
Click to expand...
Exactly... You technically didn't have a right parking it there, but your friend would have if it were his property. But if there are no HOA rules in place, you might be able to wrestle with them, but you may need to call your friend for backup...
Click to expand...

Exactly. If he's really your friend, he'll do all of the fighting for you. I know if one of my neighbors had one of my friends car's towed from my property/parking spots, there would be H-E-L-L to pay!
 
G

Garet Jax

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2000
6,369
0
71
Originally posted by: Mackie2k
The Quick and Dirty version:

I have a 2nd car, my friend stores it at his home for me. The car is in running condition, not damaged.

He owns the townhome he lives in, and he's allocated two spots to park. He has my 2nd car, and his car parked there for the past 6 months. There are no stickers or registration for parking here, just incase you are wondering.

Thursday, someone has it towed. They didn't put notes anywhere, contact anyone who lives there (only 8 unit townhome complex), nothing.

I don't feel that I should have to pay the $350-$400 fee that's it going to cost me to pull this thing outta storage.

But, I'm going to pick it up today, and then call the people who had it towed away.

If they won't take care of the costs, or at least split it with me, do I have a good case to sue them in Small Claims court?

Thanks,

Mackie
Click to expand...

Was it assigned parking or just that your friend had two spots somewhere in the complex?

 
M

Mackie2k

Senior member
May 18, 2000
870
0
76
www.windowsintune.com
Originally posted by: Garet Jax
Originally posted by: Mackie2k
The Quick and Dirty version:

I have a 2nd car, my friend stores it at his home for me. The car is in running condition, not damaged.

He owns the townhome he lives in, and he's allocated two spots to park. He has my 2nd car, and his car parked there for the past 6 months. There are no stickers or registration for parking here, just incase you are wondering.

Thursday, someone has it towed. They didn't put notes anywhere, contact anyone who lives there (only 8 unit townhome complex), nothing.

I don't feel that I should have to pay the $350-$400 fee that's it going to cost me to pull this thing outta storage.

But, I'm going to pick it up today, and then call the people who had it towed away.

If they won't take care of the costs, or at least split it with me, do I have a good case to sue them in Small Claims court?

Thanks,

Mackie
Click to expand...

Was it assigned parking or just that your friend had two spots somewhere in the complex?
Click to expand...

It's open parking, not even marked spots, but everyone who lives there, parks there. That's why it's so retarded that someone would go to the trouble to have it towed. It wasn't blocking anyone from parking nor preventing anyone from leaving.

Once we pick up the car today, we'll get the info for who had it towed. While I doubt they are going to want to pay me back, I'm going to make a huge Fing stink and threaten to sue them if they don't make it right.
 
mcvickj

mcvickj

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2001
4,602
0
76
Does this car have current registration and insurance? 6 months sure sounds pretty excessive to me. Find a proper place to store the car or sell it.
 
M

Mackie2k

Senior member
May 18, 2000
870
0
76
www.windowsintune.com
Good Question......I'll have to check, but it's possible it's not current right now.

That would be the only good reason for the towing, and I could accept that. (although its not a public street)
 
T

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
i know in many places, you can't park in the same spot for more than 3 days, both on city streets and in many apartment complexes. in my last apartment complex, you couldn't even park in your OWN assigned space for more than three days without moving your car or they would put a big red sticker on your window and threaten to tow you. might be something like that going on..
 
L

lizardboy

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2000
3,488
0
71
Like everyone has said, it depends on your state laws and on the HOA rules. Most towing companies, at least in TX, will not tow from private property in a situation like this unless they either receive a complaint from someone who has apparent authority to authorize the towing or your car is clearly violating a HOA rule (expired tags, length of being parked, etc). Hopefully when you find out who towed your car the towing company will also provide some info as to why your car was towed, at that point you can research the existing HOA and/or state statutes. Many cities/towns give you an option to go to Tow Court or Municipal Court to go after the towing company if you feel you were wrongly towed, or if the towing company was justified because of false information provided by a neighbor, you can go after that person in small claims court.
 
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lizardboy

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2000
3,488
0
71
Originally posted by: lizardboy
Like everyone has said, it depends on your state laws and on the HOA rules. Most towing companies, at least in TX, will not tow from private property in a situation like this unless they either receive a complaint from someone who has apparent authority to authorize the towing or your car is clearly violating a HOA rule (expired tags, length of being parked, etc). Hopefully when you find out who towed your car the towing company will also provide some info as to why your car was towed, at that point you can research the existing HOA and/or state statutes. Many cities/towns give you an option to go to Tow Court or Municipal Court to go after the towing company if you feel you were wrongly towed, or if the towing company was justified because of false information provided by a neighbor, you can go after that person in small claims court.
Click to expand...


This is the equivalent of 153 posts by The Batashol.
 
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