CAR TOWED..NEED HELP
Thread started by
barleye at 07.1.08 - 7:39 pm
I don't drive anymore so my car has been parked outside my house with a car cover on it for a while, thus It was towed for being on the street longer than 72 hours without being moved. Any of you ever have to deal with this? Apparantly the parking enforcement / Dept. of Transportation doesn't have to notify the owner or leave any sort of note. I'm guessing they have a record of my odometer reading on their paperwork not changing or some sort of markings they will have noted. I can ask for a hearing with the city. Anyone ever do this? What are my options?
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They will mark ur tires with white chalk and see if it it moves location. Thats how they determined that ur car wasnt moving
Debut21307.1.08 - 7:43 pm
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One of your neighbors must have complained.
If someone files a complaint that your car is being stored on the street they will chalk it a couple times and then tow it. Otherwise I don't think the city is out checking up on every car and whether it's been moved or not.
frumble07.1.08 - 7:49 pm
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i think you're just stuck paying the fine, tow charge, and storage fee. not a small nut... i'm going to guess $500. everyday you (waste) attempting to fight city hall is going to pile on additional storage fees. good luck.
indigis07.1.08 - 8:24 pm
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Sorry to hear the bad news Brad.
But hey, let them keep the car. You still got a bike
Lizzard07.1.08 - 8:36 pm
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what that guy above said,
Get that thing out asap if you want to keep it. Everyday it is in there, it is a charge. Try to get some refund later. I don't think it will be $500, more like $200. I'm not sure, listen to the guy above, he knows everything.
sexy07.1.08 - 8:40 pm
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Just got it back $187.20 later. the only notation on the citation is "LF 3 LR 7 - NO ACTIVIT/UNATTENDED"
I'm all about fighting this. I argued with an L.A. cop and the Dept of trans. woman about "what if i'm out of town or bed ridden...." they said you cannot leave a car on a city street for longer than 72 hours. I have to find something somewhere about the owner being notified or a note that has to be left on the car.... then i'd love to take the city of l.a. to small claims court for the $187.20. the woman said they used to leave notes but people would just move the car across the street and fuck with the system....
barleye07.1.08 - 10:07 pm
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Count yourself lucky. This used to happen to me about twice per year in San Francisco and would run much more like $700 to recover it, once you've included the expensive taxi ride to the impound lot, which wasn't served by public transport and was miles from anywhere. You also had to pay the ticket in a completely different location from where you picked up the car, so you'd have to get downtown to pay the ticket, then travel to the middle of nowhere to pick up your car. It made parking on the street scarcely more cost effective than renting a garage at $200/month. Factor in the broken windows and vandalism and it was definitely more expensive to park on the street in SF.
Generally, they won't tow you for parking longer than 72 hours without an active complaint by someone who lives nearby, so vacations aren't really a problem, since you can just park down the street a ways and it will take them at least a week to notice it, and then you'll get 72 more hours on top of that. Otherwise, you are just stuck moving it twice a week. Hell, count yourself lucky that you don't live on a street cleaning street. I can't park on one side of my street on Mondays and the other side on Tuesdays, which means that spots on the available side are in incredibly high demand the evening before. Usually, by the time I've ridden my bike home on Sunday and Monday night, every spot for miles around has been parked in, so I wind up parking miles away for 2 days out of every week. Vacation parking is absolutely out of the question in my neighbourhood - unless you just want to consider the $45 ticket to be some kind of parking fee. As it is, I tend to forget to move my car at least once a month, so that's $45/month to park in my neighbourhood. Car ownership is a pain in the ass. I had forgotten this until I made the mistake of buying one a month ago. Oops.
ideasculptor07.1.08 - 10:22 pm
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Because if a car moves across the street, it's unattended? It moved didn't it?
Stupid people thinking cars need to be used all the time.
FuzzBeast07.1.08 - 10:42 pm
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Again, one of the other reasons I tend to not own a car is because you never seem to stop paying for it once you've paid it off.
If anything, the only vehicles I'll have parked anywhere is the semi-tractor issued to me and the motorcycle I might get in the near-future.
bentstrider07.1.08 - 11:22 pm
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I fucking hate the juggling act that is parking in hollywood. I've been storing my car at my mom's crib lately. so nice to not have to think about it.... damn..... right now I'm wondering if I fucked up.... tomorrow is street sweep day....
Roadblock07.1.08 - 11:27 pm
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Similar thing happened to me: EXCEPT
someone switched my license plates for their expired tags...
When the parking enforcement saw that, they ran the plate - not stolen
They ran my VIN - not stolen
Hence they towed.
Even though i argued that if they would have only cross checked the VIN with the plate, they would see it DOES NOT match and that i had valid registration, they told me that by running 2 checks, the officer made an attempt (took an extra step) to see if there was foul play. I could fight it, but in the mean time, i'd have to pay the $600 to get my bike back (it was only that high because i reported it stolen, and it took them a week to realize they towed it) and that if i won in court, the city would refund me.
fuck that shit. i left my bike in the tow company's hands and they can suck my crank arm.
richtotheie07.2.08 - 4:35 am
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AW POOR RICHIE, THAT SUCKS DUDE, I DONT LIKE IT WHEN SHIT HAPPENS TO RICHIE, IT MAKES ME SAD TO GIVE THE 'SOCK PUPET' "HOLLY" , A BAD TIME.
eddieboyinla07.2.08 - 6:13 am
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Glad to hear you got it back as quickly as you did. Damn, though. Count yourself lucky. Everytime I get towed... about once every other year, the thing costs me at least $400 plus paying off the shit I got towed for.
indigis07.2.08 - 7:39 am
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I put a call in to have an "inpound hearing"...any thoughts on what I should say?
my car :
-insured
-registered
-parked across the street from my house with no parking restrictions
-I checked it every day for notices of which there were none
-covered with a car cover
I'm going to include what ifs such as: traveling, bed ridden, broken
barleye07.10.08 - 2:12 pm
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Damn dude, that's crazy.
But I did learn something here. I leave my car on the street all the time because I never drive it. And it looks like it, too. I guess I parked in front of "the wrong house" because the other day I went to go move it and discovered that someone threw soda all over it, let the air out of my tires, and it had chalk marks on the tires.
I guess some tool complained because I was parking in "their" spot, called parking enforcement about it and then decided to take matters into their own hands after the city failed to do anything.
I guess I'll keep an eye out for the chalk now.
kyber07.10.08 - 2:22 pm
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Richie
watch out they don't charge you and send it to collections
I would fight it to clear the debt.
sexy07.10.08 - 2:39 pm
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Barley, you can't fight parking enforcement.
You have no court rights.
The appeal process is a kangaroo court.
All you get is a hearing with one of THEIR supervisors. And guess who wins every time.
Somehow because the car is a thing and not a person it just doesn't have the same legal rights as you.
It's infuriating. I think the parking enforcement people are a bunch of cyclists out to get law abiding, tax paying motorists. Makes me wanna run them off the road.
Post that video PC.
And here is a parking rage link
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bottleneck/2007/02/parkingrelated_.html
marino07.10.08 - 3:14 pm
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OK...SO CHECK IT OUT..I have an impound hearing on the July 24th. I did a bit of research and this is what I found. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU THINK I HAVE A SHOT AT PROVING THAT THE CAR SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IMPOUNDED.
<1> I'm guilty of this:
SEC. 80.73.2 . USE OF STREET FOR STORAGE OF VEHICLES – GENERALLY – WHEN PROHIBITED.
(Amended by Ord. No. 177,569, Eff. 7/3/06.)
It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or who has possession, custody or control of any vehicle to park that vehicle or leave it standing upon any highway, street or alley for 72 or more consecutive hours.
------
This is what they did without trying to contact me. (registration was up to date)
SEC. 80.77. REMOVAL OF PARKED CARS.
(b) Whenever a Police Officer or Traffic Officer removes a vehicle from a street or highway as authorized in this section and the officer knows or is able to ascertain from the registration records in the vehicle or from the registration records of the California Department of Motor Vehicles the name and address of the owner thereof, such Police Officer or Traffic Officer shall immediately give or cause to be given notice in writing to such owner of the fact of such removal, the grounds thereof and of the place to which such vehicle has been removed. In the event any such vehicle is stored in a public garage, a copy of such notice shall be given to the proprietor of such garage.
barleye07.15.08 - 2:20 pm
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Never mind...I'm screwed...I re-read it and they just have to notify me where it's towed to, which they did. But If you have any ideas on how to fight it anyways, let me know.
barleye07.15.08 - 2:32 pm
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You should go. You have nothing to lose, just keep your expectations down.
This is what happened to me a few years ago. A friend parked his car on my street which has no parking restrictions while on a 10 day trip to NY. The car was parked right across the street from my house. I looked at it everyday and I had keys to move it if it needed to be moved. One day it was gone. We thought it was stolen but the old lady across the street admitted of calling parking enforcement and had it towed.
I convinced my friend to appeal and I went along as a witness. I said there was never a notice. They claimed a notice was given and maybe the wind blew it away. We asked to see proof, a copy of the notice. They flipped us off.
Good Luck!
marino07.15.08 - 2:40 pm
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The ONLY thing in my defense is that the house and apartment building closest to the car all have parking garages and it was covered closest to the corner (not in the middle of a block). Also a neighbor said he kept telling the parking enforcement and tow truck driver that the car isn't abandoned and that the owner lives across the street. They didn't care.
Maybe arguing under these specific circumstances especially including the neighbor, a courtesy notice would have had it moved within hours.
barleye07.15.08 - 2:57 pm
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It sounds like they have a "We don't need to tell you anything, we just need a complaint from ANYONE and we can tow it" policy going. What I would do if I were you - get a written letter from the neighbor with a photo copy of his/her license proving their residence in respect to the car. This can be used to show their unwillingness to correct the situation if needed. Try and get your car out of impound asap (if you already haven't) and when you go to pick it up, take a digi camera with you and shoot every tire repeatedly to try and find any chalk marks. If you can't find any of them, that's what I would use as evidence that the car had actual moved in 72 hrs. Tell them, "I uncovered it, drove it around the block and came right back to my spot, and recovered it." They will then say, "I don't think so, because the chalk marks proved you didn't" at which point you can say, "Which ones?" and show them the pics.
Also, the definition - "It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or who has possession, custody or control of any vehicle to park that vehicle or leave it standing upon any highway, street or alley for 72 or more consecutive hours. "....that's pretty sketchy. Even if there ARE chalk marks, you can say, "Per the vehicle code, which I'm fully aware of, I didn't allow it to be parked for 72 consecutive hours....I started it, moved it 1 inch forward and 1 inch backwards to it's original spot, which is why it looked liked it had never been moved since the chalk lines were in alignment still." So, even without pictures of the tires, you can let them know that their definition says it cannot be parked or left standing for 72 consecutive hours which is why you would move it 1 inch forward and 1 inch back every 48 hrs so as not to prevent the vehicle from being parked or left standing for 72 straight.
You know their laws which they made. You have to attack their own definitions they use like "left standing", "consecutive", and "park".
Good luck and God Speed.
DetroitRider07.15.08 - 3:18 pm
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Let's do the White Chalk Ride where we ride up and down every street and chalk all the car tires so the city can start towing those motherfuckers off of our streets!
jchungerford07.15.08 - 4:34 pm
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FUCK YA, GOOD IDEA, "THE CHALK RIDE!" MAN SO MANY BRAINS HERE! I LOVE IT!
eddieboyinla07.15.08 - 4:38 pm
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ME - 2
CITY OF L.A - 0
Beat the system again...first my red light ticked i won with my written declaration, now my towing charge of $187.20 cuz the parking enforcement guy gave the wrong side of the street the car was parked on during the hearing..
FIGHT ALL TICKETS......these dipshits that issue the citations/tickets will no doubt fuck up their testimony, declarations, too lazy to show up for court, etc....
barleye09.12.08 - 2:54 pm
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I know it has nothing to do with bikes.. that's why I put it in this thread.
Skip the first bit and get right to it at 2:25. Enjoy.
frumble09.12.08 - 6:44 pm
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Barlye
I dont think you have much of a fight. I personally believe in fighting every ticket even just to play cop roulette. Glendale likes to give a lot of bullshit tickets, and I have fought almost all tickets Ive received and won a lot of them, but in this case I dont think it would be worth your while. Im not sure the same rules apply here as far as cop not showing up case getting dismissed or not because a cop did not tow your car, the City Transpo dept did and I cant imagine them not showing up for this. I think that would be the only way you would win.
That skate bomb video was fucking nuts!! Those guys are bad ass motherfuckers!!
leoleo09.12.08 - 7:23 pm
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Ridazz Roulette!