Towing Issues: 4 passes, 2 types for 4 spots, tow truck company, orange pass

Question
QUESTION: What a bad night! It all started at 2 in the morning when I was woken up by my roommates saying my truck was being towed. Now my house collectively has 5 passes 4 are leased and 1 visitor's, but there are 2 types of leased passes the orange that just say our house number and the others are red with a spot specific code. i had a orange one that i believed to say hey this car is owned by this house and i was in one of our four spots. Since we are college students on different schedules and have friends that come over at different parts of the day, we usually just take one of the four, which evers open. i figure since im parking in a spot my rent pass for i should be safe in any of the four. i say that because we arnt each specifically assigned a spot. this tow truck company has targeted us several times before and has even picked my car up while i was in the process of getting in to it to move it(keys in the door before he backed in). is there any things i can do or words to drop to keep them away or get my truck back without paying the 175.

ANSWER: I'm not sure about the 175, but why was the vehicle towed in the first place. I also need to know what state you are in. A campus is considered private property in most states and is governed by the campus police. You can look up predatory towing in your state. There are several web sites dedicated just to this type of activity.

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QUESTION: I'm in Virginia it's not on a campus we live in a townhouse community and the tow truck driver said it was because i was in the wrong spot for my pass. but the reason i parked there was my roommate parked in my usual spot where the orange pass works and so i parked in his where his red pass worked. Now i definitely feel that predatory is the correct word to describe his practices. I stated the two spots situation to him last night and feel if he had the right to tow mine he also should have towed my roommate's. Also i did request several times for an police officer to come explain the situation to me since he stated the reason he had the authority to tow it was he had already reported it. I have figured it out by now that this something to talk to my housing association. but please any advise on the situation would be helpful cuz if the HOA don't resolve this in my favor my parents are prepared to report it to the police.

Answer
I would start with the HOA. If you have a copy of your lease agreement or their towing ploicy it would help to look at it before you talk to them. In most states the towing company still has to have signed authorization to tow a vehicle, even on private property. The web sites for predatory towing address this also. Let me know if you need anything else.