Any lawyers know the legalities of tow truck companies?

[pnutchuck]

These people are out of control and there are very few laws protecting the rights of property owners against them.

Here's the story. My sister bought a car a few years ago, a nissan something or other, it was pretty much a lemon so, my sister decided to go out and get another car. The new place wouldn't take the nissan as a trade in because she was so upside down on it. The nissan was in my mother's name but my sister bought a VW Jetta in hers.

My sister left the debt to my mother, but being a single school teacher, it just became too much for my mom. She tried to get the lien holder to repossess it, but they said they didn't want the car, they wanted the money. She tried to sell it, but the damn thing needed a lot of work and my mom couldn't sell it for the lien amount so, therefore couldn't get the pink slip for anyone wanting to take it off her hands.

My sister and her boyfriend (a guy who is suspect to say the least) decided to help my mom by finding a friend of theirs who needed a car, but had bad credit and couldn't get a car on his own. This guy said that he would take the car and make payments to my mom.

He did this for about a month. On the second month, he didn't come by with the payment. Instead, 2 weeks after my mom received a parking ticket in the mail. He said he'd pay it, but never did. Another week goes by, and my mother receives a call that her car had been towed.

This guy says that it didn't work anymore and that he couldn't drive it so, he pushed it out onto the street. Yet, he never called her to tell her this.

My mother couldn't afford to get the car out right away. She called the towing company and asked if she could work out a payment plan. But they said no and continued to charge her $25 a day in addition to the $250 towing charge. My mother only gets paid once a month and she had just moved into a new place. She just didn't have the extra funds in the middle of the month.

I told my mom to take the kid to small claims court but, my sister and her boyfriend put a guilt trip on her and she didn't do it. A month goes by, and she again asked if she could work something out and the tow co. said no. They told her they were going to sell her car.

With charges racking up everyday, and no way my mom can pay the fees outright, they auctioned off her car.

How is this possible when she has a lien holder? They were licensed by the police department to do this. My mother called her lien holder and they requested an itemization of the bill. My mom did as requested but was given the run around.

They originally told her that the nissan was auctioned for $1000, but after calling the police dept to complain about them not giving her the list, the itemization showed they sold it for $1500. Yet, the towing co. originally requested an additional $800 to cover the tow charges when she was told the car was sold for $1000. Does this mean that she only owes $300? Except, when she called the police to lodge a complaint, they told her that the car was no longer hers and she didn't have to worry about it anymore. And if that's true, how does the new buyer get the pink slip if my mom still owes the lien holder?

This is just so confusing, and I don't understand how these tow companies have such rights. How can they just demand payment in full for somebody's car who obviously was just an innocent bystander in the whole thing? And whree the hell do they get off just selling someone's car like that without trying to work something out?

[yorgatron]

1. first off,DO NOT give the tow company ANY money at this point.

they sold it to pay the storage fees.end of story.
at this point,you need to just let it go.
you admit the car was a lemon.then you sold it,but didn't transfer the title.
OF COURSE it stopped running,it was a piece of crap.
OF COURSE the guy pushed it out in the street,i would've.
i've had stuff hauled off,you just have to say "oh well" and move on.

[pnutchuck]

2. True, but the guy knew the car was a lemon and agreed to take it "as is"

he said that he was a mechanic and would make the repairs on it. What gets me, is that the front end was damaged. That wasn't the case when he took it. Also, he didn't even call my mother to tell her to come get the car. He just let it sit outside for a week until it was towed. That was the first my mother had heard that it wasn't working.

But you're right she needs to move on. That part is history. The problem is that she still owes over $2000 to the lien holder. How does the new buyer get the pink slip on the vehicle if she can't pay it outright?

[Kolesar]

3. Where I used to live, the towing companies were linked to organized crime

and the police were in on it with them. Don't push your luck with these guys. They are monsters.

[pnutchuck]

4. No kidding. They're like vultures out here San Diego.... eom

[sandnsea]

5. That's how it is

The police had the car towed. The tow company has a contract with the police and just do what they're told. Unless the car was pushed onto a private lot and the owner called, but you said street. Tow truck drivers don't just drive around picking up cars at random, not anywhere I've lived anyway. I can't imagine CA giving them that power, they've never been a tow truck friendly state in the past.

If it was the street, I think the car has to be tagged first. At least it does here in OR. I don't know whether they have to send a letter to the owner of the car or not. I would imagine it's different from state to state. That is the law I would check. Abandoned vehicle law.