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So my car got towed several weeks ago, and I did file a tow hearing for it. I was wondering if anyone else had done one before. Below is a snippet of the story I wrote for another website. I cut out some of the non-car related portions for length. Also, they got the address wrong. The address is 1500 St. Emanuel Street, Houston, TX. The address they tow place wrote was 1500 McKinney Street.

It was just under $200 to get my car back, not to mention a couple of hours of annoyance and trouble. There were other issues with the tow truck driver that was very wrong and offensive. I'm pretty ticked that this place thinks they can tow people without posting signs. Houston City ordinance lays out specifics about how signs should be posted, and well, that's a moot point. I didn't see any signs. About 75% of the entire lot was towed by the time I got there. Pictures of the parking lot below. I may be blind, but I don't see any signs posted anywhere. Someone point them out to me if you see them.

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I parked at Kim Hung before the GirlTalk Concert at Warehouse Live around 8:15pm. Looked for "Do not Park" signs. I did not see any. There was a sign posted that said, "Event Parking $3 Pay in store." The store was closed. I waited a while. No tow trucks came by. No one was collecting money. I looked around some more for tow signs.

Fast forward to just after midnight. I came out to see that a car was being towed. I looked for my car. Um.... where's my car? It got towed along with everyone else's. I looked for a sign. No sign. But I spotted the tow lot information on the side of the truck. I meet some total strangers who also had their car towed. We Google the lot, we call around, and we figure out that the lot is only a 15-20 min walk away. The strangers didn't have any cash on them so they went back to the Warehouse Live to use the ATM and off we went.

We happened to pass by the lot to see that everyone else who had their car towed was about to descend onto the woman calling the tow trucks like an angry mob. In passing, I asked her when she got here to collect money. She said 9 pm. She said that it wasn't her fault no one was there to collect money before 9 pm, and thusly had their car towed.

I get to the lot, pay $191.34, get my car, and exchange info with my new friends. I went back to the lot to take pictures showing that there were no tow signs visible, unless you count the one across the street for the lot across the street.

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/RwIwZmN7-v8zUVO-QBEWYQ/l

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/8Okg4bwRYa3XT0IpQMV2vg/l

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/Q6AXB9Lco4ps-rPPB4bAiA/l

Just curious here, but how long do you think Kim Hung Market will be in business? I think I might ask their business manager how often they have to replace those big glass windows and how much they cost. I betcha they cost more than $200.

But that's my redneck side talking, my PhD side would point out to their business manager that I have several new friends who are preparing to file a civil suit if we are not compensated for the illegal towing charges and reasonable damages for the inconvenience of having to find alternate rides after they ruined an otherwise good evening. Most likely the business manager will politely tell you to go to h$ll and then if you are right about your regulations you and your friends should have your attorney write a letter (costs ~$150). Probably they eventually refund your towing charges--maybe the tow hearing short circuits this process? It's up to you to decide if breaking their window or getting your $200 back is more satisfying. If you break their windows, you may be a redneck:p.


Moral of the story: If you do business in glass houses, you shouldn't throw stones.

Go get 'em Pookie.

Don't break there windows, not a good idea. Better idea is take your lumps and not park there again.

I'd get my money back:). Too often the redneck way is self-destructive.

I'm not into breaking windows or breaking anything. However, the other people who had their cars towed looked like they were going to let loose on that woman. I just hopped and skipped along with some strangers to the tow lot to get my car. I encouraged other people at the tow lot to file a hearing, but I'm not sure if people are aware that it is an option.

I did call the tow company and gave them an earful about their driver though. It was not pretty. I have yet to file something on the driver yet.

ILAveo, What's your Phd in? I'm in dissertation hell right now.

University of Minnesota, Economics, 1995--Never did much with it--but I'm mostly happy anyhow.

Good luck with your prelims, defenses and what not--and remember its not who you know, but who your advisor knows:p.

To me it sounds like the problem is with the lot owner, not the towing co,

I didn't mention it before.....but the tow truck driver made an R-rated proposition. The contents are not family friendly, nor do I really wish to delve into it. That's the short of it. Where's that disgusted emoticon? I called the tow company as soon I was able to get their number and told them what had happened. This was around 2 am. I got put on hold for a while, then I got the "Wait, I can't hear you, the line is breaking up *click*" I called back, and they wouldn't pick up.

I hadn't really done much about that. I'm much more interested in the tow hearing than having to deal with some creeps.

.....

I hadn't really done much about that. I'm much more interested in the tow hearing than having to deal with some creeps.

Yeah, I sometimes neglect to consider that. I used to work collections and repo cars from time to time, so I got used to dealing with creeps. Often you hire an attorney to be the creep that is on your side (my apologies to atlaw4u and our other legal friends.)

Since they were going to offer to let cars park for a price & it was after regular hours, I'm pretty much on your side PookieSoup.

But, do take the time to consider the other side (which I'll do since no else has yet). Someone parked on private property where the intent is to allow "current" customers parking. Since they are closed there shouldn't be a problem, but the sign indicated that they were going to sell parking rights. You parking there prevented them from taking incoming money, even if you would have paid before or after. It would be a bit like finding the next door neighbors parked in your driveway so they would have room for more friends to park. They thought you wouldn't mind since you were having a party too and they were invited. Not exactly illegal, but bad feeling might exist.

However towing is a bit extreme. The better choice would have been to write up some signs explaining the moral infraction & asking people to stop by the store to pay for parking during business hours, or leave someone at the lot to collect money as people returned. If they wrote down license plates they could call the police if someone refused to pay and put in a charge for theft of services.

All in all, parking there if you couldn't pay wasn't the best choice, but the store made bigger mistakes. Heck, you didn't even mention where the "pay in store" sign was. If it was outside the store where anyone could have stuck it up, then how do you even know that this isn't some unscrupulous person trying to use a lot that isn't even theirs to make money. If the sign was outside the store, I'd make sure to point that out, assuming the sign is brought up at all.

Good luck recovering your money.

Hi Shiba,

The pay in store sign was outside zip-tied on a post. It was the only sign there that I could see. The sign indicated that you had to pay for event parking. There was no sign that indicated customer parking only nor were there any tow signs. But again, I could be blind. Also, the irritating part was that they only collected money during certain times. For that day, it was 9 pm until 2 am. By the time I got back to take pictures of the lot, no one was there to collect money, and car were no longer being towed. I got there prior to 9 pm, so I guess that's my bad that I didn't know that free parking was only between the hours of 8pm - 9 pm, and after 2 am.

Anyways, I'm not all too worried. The city ordinance was very clear on sign postings. There has to be standard tow signs posted at the entrance of the lot and on the ends of each of the rows. Signs have to have a phone number of the tow lot, and they have to be posted between 5-7 ft in height. There weren't any visible signs so that's pretty clear cut. Now I just have to wait for the hearing.

The question I would ask is, had this been any other night, would they have towed a vehicle away? I doubt it. It looks like a strip mall with other stores being on the same property. Wouldn't the right to tow be granted to the owner of the property, and not the owner of the lease? It seems rather a rash decision to just start towing cars. Good luck with getting a return of those fees (no sarcasm here, just good luck).

Yes. I see how the "good luck" I said earlier could be mistaken as sarcasm, but I really do hope you get your money back.

Oph, your completely correct that the strip mall owner should be the only one with the right to tow. I assumed that the store owned the strip, but the odds are probably against it. That's something to find out. If the grocery store owner isn't the lot owner and did this, I'm sure the lot owner would want to know & might have something to say about them trying to run a 2nd business on property they don't lease. Imagine working in one of the small stores & taking the evening to do an inventory. You look out the window & see your car being towed. I'd even consider talking to the police in that case. Having someone's car towed from property you don't own or control may well be criminal.

Sorry about that. I didn't take it as sarcasm. I was just in "serious dissertation" writing mode, with my distraction obviously being cleanmpg.com. :D I actually have a friend who says he parks there all the time for Astros games (the Orange stadium is a short walk) without ever being towed.

I was told that the owner of the store (who is supposedly the owner of the property) was there that night, but I'm not sure. Either way, his presence still isn't a tow sign.

I did talk to the police who happened to be around that night. They indicated that it was pretty common for that lot. They did the eye roll and the "not again" sigh.

Tow Company Loses License (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27538666)

At least you have recourse. We had a car (mechanics' lien) that we bought when we still lived in California. The tags were several years expired. Well, a week or so after we brought it home, the police had it towed because the car was parked on the street with expired tags. Even having shown copies of the DMV papers we submitted to issue a new title and tags dated before the day it was towed didn't sway anybody. The cost to spring it from the pound was more than we paid for the car, so we said to hell with it. The DMV did, however, refund the title app and registration fees minus the processing.

I say take them to court for all they've got... you'll probably get a decent settlement. Especially if it's 10 or 15 people making the suit.

With regards to the redneck solution I cannot officially endorse breaking the law... :rolleyes:

I think a friendly call to the the local TV station the night it happened would work wonders. Just tell them the story, no sign, towed cars, a somewhat unruly crowd and they just might show up. I'm sure the owner would not like the bad publicity from that one.

Then I would think that since there is no sign and the towing company can't legally tow the cars without a sign a police report of stolen cars might be in order. Then since you had to pay to recover stolen property there might be some additional charges. I'm sure a lawyer could make a very good argument and you all might end up with a nice chunk a change in your pocket from the owner to settle the whole thing.

Ya know what's weird? No one else really cared to file hearing request. I told everyone around about it, but they just shrugged it off.

Dude... that's just way too much work for the average citizen ;). Now, if they'd been ripped out of 1000 dollars, I bet it'd be a different tune.