A Summary Of Anti-Predatory Towing Law In California

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This is certainly not legal advice, but I recently turned up a thumbnail summary of the law in California, and so--as part of my effort to be a one-stop-shop in regard to predatory and abusive towing issues, including laws to protect against that sort of thing, I'm going to reproduce the "thumbnail summary" of the law for those who may be searching for a clewwwwwwwwww in California....

This summary comes from Consumer Connection, a publication of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. It is, therefore, public and government information which can be promulgated verbatim.

This is apparently the law which banned "patrol towing" in California, something activist Sean Cruz is always urging for the State of Oregon, click here.

The Law's Preamble. Or Not.

"Tow truck drivers risk their lives every day to..."

OK, forget that part. If you want to read pro-tow propaganda, you can check out this blog, click here. I'll skip to the good part:

Patrol Towing Is The Devil

The worst cases of predatory towing involve "patrol" or "satellite" towing. That's when a tow truck driver, on a tip from a spotter, tows away a car illegally parked on private property, such as a no-parking area of a shopping mall or apartment complex. If that happens, the car owner has to pay the cost of towing, storage, and other fees to get the car back.

A new law, Assembly Bill 2210 (Goldberg, Chapter 609, Statutes of 2006) protects consumers against the worst of illegal towing. Under AB 2210, if you spot a tow truck driver taking your car, and the tow truck is still on private property, the driver must release your car to you unconditionally.

Fines For Tow Truck Drivers

A tow truck operator who violates this law is subject to a civil misdemeanor, a fine of $2,500, and/or three months in jail. Also, consumers who can prove they have been charged illegal or excessive towing or storage fees are entitled to recover four times the amount of those fees in small claims court.

Below is a summary of the changes in the law under AB 2210. Remember these guidelines apply only to tows from private property.

One-Hour Rule

A vehicle must be parked for one full hour before being towed unless it is parked in a manner that interferes with an entrance or exit, is within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, or in a fire lane. The curb of a fire line must be painted red and be clearly labeled "NO PARKING FIRE LANE."

Unconditional Release

If a vehicle owner encounters a tower removing his or her vehicle but the truck is not yet on a public road, the owner may demand the immediate and unconditional release of the vehicle. The law does not require the owner to provide a driver's license.

Reasonable Release Fee (Or, So Much For "Unconditional Release")

If the tower releases a vehicle that has been illegally parked, the tower is entitled to no more than one-half of his normal towing fee. Local law enforcement can tell you what the normal towing fee is in your area.

Ten-Mile Limit

A tower cannot take your vehicle to a storage lot that is more than ten miles from where it was parked.

Clearly-Posted Warning

A tower must have written consent from the property owner or his agent, who must have waited one hour before calling for the tow. Also, a sign not less than 17 inches by 22 inches in size should be displayed in plain view at all entrances to the property.

Valid Towing Permit (Photos, Records, No Kick-Backs)

The tower must have a valid motor carrier permit, shall make records and photographs of each tow available for law enforcement, and shall not share profits from towing with property owners who call for a vehicle removal.

Credit Cards OK

The tower must accept credit cards in payment for towing and storage fees, which must be reasonable.

Compliance Within 24 Hours Equals One Day Maximum Storage Charge

If the appropriate fees are paid within the initial 24 hours of storage and the storage facility fails to comply or is not open during normal business hours, then only one day's storage fee may be charged.

Reasonable Gate Fee

The gate fee, or maximum hourly charge for releasing a vehicle after normal business hours, shall be one half the hourly tow rate charged for initially towing the vehicle, or less.

Penalty For Excessive Charges

A person who charges a vehicle owner a towing service or storage charge at an excessive rate is liable to the vehicle owner for four times the amount charged.

If You Have A Complaint

You should contact your local law enforcement and the Better Business Bureau--

(OK, let me break in right now and say that's just LAME)

You may also check the driver's reposessor's license on DCA's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services or by calling 800-952-5210. Civil claims against a tower should be filed in the Small Claims Court. The Department of Consumer Affairs also publishes a Guide to Using the Small Claims Court.

Weaknesses In The Law

The biggest weakness is there is no oversight arm apparent. The advice to "contact local law enforcement and the Better Business Bureau" is worthless. Honestly, I've never had any luck with the Better Business Bureau. There needs to be a bureau to complain about the ineffectiveness of the Better Business Bureau.

In regard to the "one hour rule," how will this stuff be PROVEN? This rule presents an opportunity for somebody to try to catch predatory towing companies in the act, but little more. Proving the vehicle sat somewhere for less than an hour is going to be quite difficult.

The law also says the towing companies must accept credit cards. It doesn't say "all major credit cards." An obvious loophole.

The law doesn't require towing companies to be open 24 hours. Other jurisdictions require this. California needs to catch up.

However, all in all, you're a lot better being in California than in the abusive predatory towing playground of Oregon, for example.

Predatory Towing Is Ruining Tourism In Asheville, North Carolina

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Asheville, North Carolina depends heavily on tourism, but a few predatory towing companies are ruining life for everybody. So Asheville is considering new ordinances, probably modeled on those of Raleigh, North Carolina.

I previously reported about how predatory towing was merely on the table for discussion in Asheville, click here, but an excellent and detailed article by Jason Sandford, click here, fleshes out how...

...a tourist-oriented town like Asheville can be harmed by predatory towing. The article is not merely a window into Asheville, but something of a case study in predatory-towing-meets-tourism industry.

Here are some highlights of the article.

Way To Spoil Asheville For Us

A husband and wife were downtown at a restaurant and--wouldn't you know it--thought a parking lot next to the restaurant was a good place to, well, park. Ha ha. Tourists.

They were having drinks across the street when WHAT did they see? A pink elephant? No, it was their car being dragged away by a tow truck.

What started as a fun night out turned into a tale of misery. After that, the couple stayed in the hotel at the outskirts of town, ate at the Outback steak chain, and refused to dump money in the downtown art shops and eateries.

Big Whopping Lies?

Faced with a proposal to tweak Asheville's laws to look more like the laws of Raleigh, NC, the owner of a local towing company complained about the possibility of being required to accept credit cards and not just cash. He claims--and I find this claim truly incredible, PROVE IT, I say--that "over half of customers reversed charges" back when he allowed credit cards.

Prove it, I say. I find it incredible that 50 percent of the public would be that bold, that innovative, that rebellious, even in the heart of Dixieland where common sense is king and folks know a lot of smart tricks. I'd believe ten percent, even twenty, but FIFTY? Sounds like a big whopper to me. But I'm open to hearing the evidence.

The Ultimate "Tourist Friendly" Solution

So how about using high tech to notify individuals of an impending tow so they can "move it or lose it?" Wouldn't that be the ultimate "tourist friendly solution" to fight predatory towing?

A small town like Asheville couldn't pull something like this off, all by itself. Indeed, even when I propose the "high tech move it or lose it notification" in cities like Minneapolis, where there are a lot of snow emergencies, I usually propose having individuals buy some sort of sticker to place on their vehicle. Such a solution wouldn't be practical for tourists.

But consider this: a whole bunch of tourist towns all getting together, coordinating with entities like "Triple A," to compile a massive list of auto information...enough to notify a lot of tourists (certainly not all, but a lot) of an impending tow if their particular car should be sitting where it's not supposed to sit.

Ultimately, the whole nation should adopt high tech solutions, not only "move it or lose it notification" but also systems to let towed drivers find their car in the system quickly, easily...all over the nation, in a seamless web of information between various jurisdictions.

Ah, yes, that's quite a vision. But in the meantime, maybe there's a way to get Danny Jones of All-Safe Towing to quit preying on tourists cars in Asheville, before he manages to kill what sounds like a really fun and funky downtown.

The Value of Upset Letters To Local Chambers Of Commerce

Oh, by the way...here is yet another instance of a local chamber of commerce reacting to upset letters from the victims of predatory towing. If you are towed in a small town...be sure to vent your spleen on the local Chamber of Commerce, and let them know you're NEVER COMING BACK TO THEIR CRUMMY TOWN AGAIN because of what happened.

Some places might even give you gift certificates and a free hotel stay. And if not, what have you lost? A stamp. What have you gained? An opportunity to make sure your suffering is not borne by you alone, but somehow contributes to the greater good.

Chambers Of Commerce Getting Involved

This article also shows Chambers of Commerce can approach their local government and ask for reforms to prevent predatory towing, and they can get somewhere like that. I hope more Chambers of Commerce will follow Asheville's example.

A Victim's Eye View Of The Scary Impound Lot In Kansas City, Kansas

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While searching for an image to illustrate the previous blog post, click here, I stumbled upon some images of the impound lot in Kansas City, KANSAS which some unfortunate citizen snapped while retrieving a car towed for expired plates. (Which were only expired because of a "paperwork mix-up")

As is so often the case...

...a trip to the impound lot is a bleak, scary journey into automotive Purgatory. You really have to wonder if there are laws requiring impound lots to be located in vast fields of mud, or to have dirty, neglected piles of automotive debris, or to bear a scary resemblance to a political "re-education camp."

Thanks to this Flickr.com photo contributor for helping me add the State of Kansas to the Towing Utopia Dot Com national map.

Dark and Dingy Garages, Warning Signs On Wheels, And No You DO NOT Get A Receipt, Lady...All In Kansas City, Mo.

Flickr.com Photo, Kansas City, Mo.

As I reported a couple weeks ago, click here, Kansas City, Mo. is in the process of revising its ordinances, trying to eliminate some of the rampant abuses by towing companies.

Like water long under pressure erupting in a geyser, (or maybe a broken radiator hose would be a better example) citizens vented tales of victimization by towing companies on the prowl...

According to this article in the Kansas City Star, click here, many of the complaints center on inadequate signs in parking lots which were "broken, hung upside down, hidden in dark corners or non existent." One woman was denied a receipt after retrieving her car from a "dark and dingy" garage.

A man named Jonathan De Haven lost his job after losing his car, and noted the warning sign mysteriously appeared after he parked....no doubt aided by the fact it was on wheels.

Readers should take note of the statement in the "manifest" of this blog, about the intimate connection between one's car and one's life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

I'm glad to say I contacted the office of Kansas City Councilperson Circo to make sure she knew about this blog, where many examples have been gathered of cities trying to reform their ordinances. The article in the Kansas City Star lists the reforms Circo has proposed, and these are all good reforms, but individuals who posted in the comments section of the article (part of the "sub-blogosphere") are emphatic that Kansas City doesn't actually ENFORCE its laws about towing.

For example, "chasing tows" is illegal, and yet (according to some posters) there is ample evidence tow trucks are running to accident scenes by monitoring police radio channels, often arriving even before squad cars.

Notably, the Kansas City Star has reportedly been swamped with calls complaining about predatory towing, as one of its higher-ups mentioned in passing. (Click here)

Once this ordinances is passed (and I think it will be) a good story for the Kansas City Star might be trying to see if the rules are actually being enforced.

From Spontaneous Uprising To Planned Protest (America Wakes Up To Predatory Towing)

Photo By John Hoff, "Poor People's March"

Perhaps there have been other planned, coordinated protests against predatory towing incidents prior to one recently announced in Oregon...by somebody posting under the label "napd" on the blog of Sean Cruz, click here.

Yes, possibly. I haven't heard of any sign-waving, slogan-chanting examples, but I admit it's possible there have been a few, most likely on some campus.

But as an activist and a relentless life-long do-gooder, I'm pretty familiar with various social movements and how they evolve. What I'm observing now is an interesting, predictable development in social consciousness and activism around the issue of predatory and abusive towing, as some of the more informed people in the country...

...make the transition from merely waking up to predatory towing to actually doing something about it. Therefore, I see it as the duty of this blog to repeat and amplify the "call to protest" announced on the blog of Sean Cruz.

Here is the call to protest, such as it is, pretty much verbatim...though I eliminated the "all caps" in the body of the original posting:

TO ANYBODY OUT THERE WHO MAY WANT TO HELP/GET INVOLVED,

I'm working on a formal letter to the governor, with cc to the mayor, attorney general, city and state police department regarding Retriever Towing and I need as many signatures as possible.

I'm also in the process of organizing a peaceful march early in January. The plan is to start from their site under I-405 and march to City Hall. (By "their site," the poster apparently means Retriever Towing)

I will provide more info by end of next week with additional info as soon as the letter is ready and plans are better defined.

We need to create awareness not only about the obvious public health and safety issue that this represents but also the economic impact on unaware businesses under contract with them (Retriever Towing, I assume) and how this scares customers away from their premises.

Does anyone know about other property managers canceling their contracts with them, or business owners with similar concerns or dissatisfied with their service? It is clear now how unregulated industries and special interests can drive an entire economy down. We need to take action.

The Spark That Ignited Involvement

Our family car was towed with our nephew's asthma medication and car seats in it. Our family was stranded in the rainy weather for an hour and Mr. Coe (of Retriever Towing) himself denied access to the car before payment was made which I understand is required by law.

(A side note, here. Check out Minnesota's proposal for a "let people get their stuff" law, click here. I'm still trying to find out if it became law or not)

They put us in their known"time out" and made us wait even longer (they used to charge customers for this) The police were called and upon arrival they acknowledged knowing about Retriever Towing having out-of-control predatory towing practices, but said they couldn't do much about it. We still had to pay first despite our plea regarding the urgency of the medication and car seats.

If Retriever Towing can tow a police car in Gresham responding to a 911 call, ignore a request from a police officer in Wilsonville responding to a call by a domestic violence victim, disregard common sense, public safety and many more instances that can be found with a simple Google search (even in the national news) and are frequently in the local news, (then) it is time to do something more than just posting outrage on a website or waiting for the government to get involved.

Citizens In Open Insurrection
A few weeks ago, the Oregonian reported on a woman and an angry mob who set a Retriever truck on fire and who was arrested on a 220k bond. That's just another example that public outrage with this confrontational tow company is leading to more and more violence. Hoepfully, the government will get involved soon.

I'll provide more information later.

What Will Happen In Oregon?

It will be interesting to see whether there really will be a protest march, and what will come of that. I'll certainly try to report on it, and I've forwarded a request for pictures, information if and when it happens.

However, even the mere CALL for a protest march represents a kind of evolutionary development with the social issue of predatory towing.

Oregon Continues To Be A "Predatory Towing Theme Park" Filled With Abused Citizens

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There is no end to the predatory towing abuses in Oregon, which recently included a domestic violence victim "re-victimized" by the infamous "Retriever Towing" outfit. Fortunately...

...Oregon has Sean Cruz, who stays on top of these issues and constantly brings up the need to ban "patrol towing" in Oregon, like California and Washington State have already banned the practice. Sean's recent blog post, click here, included a bunch of URLs with information about the ongoing saga with Retriever Towing.

(I've encouraged Sean to use "live links" with his blog, a practice which requires only a slight bit of technical know-how)

Here are some highlights from Sean's material which I'd like to highlight:

* According to an article in the Oregonian, click here, there was a "predatory towing uprising" incident, which included an angry crowd and an attempt to set fire to the tow truck, with the vehicle owner under arrest. My blog has been attempting to document these uprisings, like the one in at Abbey Court in Carrboro, North Carolina, which seems to have been the Lexington and Concord of this widening rebellion.

This type of citizen-led "direct action" seems to be picking up steam at the same time the public becomes more enlightened about the concept of "predatory and abusive towing" through efforts like those of Sean Cruz and Towing Utopia.

I do not advocate violence. I certainly do advocate protest.

* Sean Cruz wrote about another incident, reported by KATU, in which a driver for Sergeant's "tow jacked" the car of a woman in labor, click here for article.

The comments section of this article is quite notable, with some individuals actually emailing the company in question and then posting the response on the comments thread. This is a great example of the sub-blogosphere in action, and actually adding useful information to public discourse...for a change.

* Sean Cruz points out "the 2007 Oregon Legislature, under the leadership of Senator Avel Gordly, imposed regulations on patrol towing that have yet to be fully implemented, particularly by local governments."

Towing Utopia says: WAKE UP, LOCAL OREGON GOVERNMENTS! REGULATE PATROL TOWING!!!!

* Cruz points out two truck drivers must provide "their prospective victims" with a printed rate sheet so there is "no confusion about the amount of ransom demanded." If this isn't happening, folks in Oregon need to notify the Oregon Attorney General's Office.

* In wording very similar to the "manifest" of this very blog, Sean points out "the towers demands are often confiscatory in effect. Loss of vehicle is a penalty far beyond what is just for the 'offense' that may or may not have been committed by the vehicle owner."

Indeed. That is why citizens should be going into court and suing to have whole bodies of state towing laws overturned on constitutional grounds, whether state or local. YES, there is a time and a place for non-consent towing. But it must be regulated and transparent, with emerging technology used across the spectrum of the "towing life cycle" to make sure nobody needs to say "Dude, where's my car?" and not have an answer for days.

Note: the photo above is of a tow truck driver in Oregon, but is for illustration purposes only. No implication is intended that the driver was engaged in abusive towing practices.

No More "Tricked And Trapped" On Washington Avenue SE (Thank You, Councilman Cam Gordon!)

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I've written a couple of times about the "tricked and trapped" towing situation in the Stadium Village neighborhood of Minneapolis, click here, and also click here.

Could it just be some kind of weird blogosphere coincidence that the City of Minneapolis has fixed the problem along that small stretch of street, plus installed innovative new meters which take credit cards? Somehow, I don't think so! But I'm going to give credit to...

...city Councilman Cam Gordon, who told me during his election four years ago (I can hardly believe it was that long) he would indeed look into the issue of more advanced parking meters which might take plastic, like the ones in San Francisco. The meter discussion came up in a series of opinion columns I wrote about the Ward 2 election in Minneapolis, highlighting the two candidates for the Ward 2 council seat but strategically mentioning--OVER AND OVER--there was A GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE IN THE RACE.

(Alleged "improvements" to the Minnesota Daily website makes it difficult to find those old columns in question and create some links)

A recent article in the Minnesota Daily discusses the installation of the new meters, click here, but when I rushed over to see the new meters, my heart filled with joy, pitter pat, it was even better than I could have imagined:

The tricky signage also got changed. You see, the credit card meters aren't at every space, but provide coverage of a number of spaces kind of like a pay lot. So when new signage was erected to direct motorists to the new meters, the towing situation along the street became much more apparent due to the changes in the signage. Now, you can't really put money in the meter without seeing the sign about how YOU WILL BE TOWED if you stay on the street when you're not supposed to.

I almost wish I was in Ward 2 so I could vote for Cam Gordon, but I have my own mission in North Minneapolis.

Cam Gordon really is making life better for U of M students, even though bureaucracy is a big machine to push against, and progress comes in increments. But a long time ago Cam said he was taking an interest in the new meters, and the new meters finally arrived. So I give credit to Cam.

Yeah, I'll probably ask Cam about how it happened, there, but I still give credit to Cam Gordon, here and now.

I hope the new meters work as good as the manufacturer (I am sure) has promised, and eventually replace all the clunky, mean, obsolete, quarters-only meters.

But we still have a long way to go in Minneapolis to eliminate predatory towing. The new meters tend to show what I've been trumpeting for months: communicative technology is the key to eliminating predatory towing.