Towing Issues: illegal tow ?, restaurant patrons, illegal parking

Question
I parked in a private lot between a pub/restaurant and a building that houses dentists offices, and lawyers.  There was a sign stating that illegally parked vehicles would be towed. The other signs throughout the lot stated " this area is reserved for shoppers   restaurant patrons  office visitors "  There are several shops directly across the street and none on that side of the street. I parked and went across to the coffee shop. I was gone about 15 minutes and when i returned my truck was gone.  I wandered around the lot for a few minutes looking for it.  It didn't occur to me at first that it had been towed.  Finally I called the number on the sign and they said they had my truck.  I asked them why and they responded that I walked downtown and that was why they towed it.  I did not walk downtown.  I told them I needed the car seat out of the truck and he told me too bad.  I got the police involved.  They said they would make him let me get the car seat out but they couldn't do much more. The tow company charged me $ 184 to get my vehicle back.  I strongly felt I had not parked illegally so i stood out in front of the lot protesting.  Some of the shop owners came out.  They agreed that i should have been able to park where i had without being towed.  Its driving me crazy thinking this company got my $ and got away with illegally towing me.  Am I wrong?  Rochester NY

Answer
First of all, in 99.9% of all cases, being towed for illegal parking in private parking lots is a civil matter. The police can not do much of anything to help with it.

Now as the property seems to be posted with signs, that tends to meet most of the requirements and I hate to say it but New York State does not have very good laws for impound sign requirements. I am not sure about Rochester New York, as I can not find specific laws for that area regarding laws for signs.

Now as to the "proper customers" which are allowed to use the parking lot, that will be a hard battle to find out the correct terms.

Now the comment about you "going downtown" that tends to tell me that they have a "monitor or person watching the lot" That is where a lot of trouble comes in. It tends to get hard to keep track of where everyone goes, and that is when mistakes happen.

As to getting the money back, well first of all it can be done. But you will have to jump though a few hoops.

You need to establish who is the "LEGAL PROPERTY OWNER"  
Next you will have to find out "Who authorized the tow and signed the papers to have it removed"
Then you will have to establish that you were indeed a customer of what ever business you went to, (got the receipt) and make sure that they are able to have customers park in that lot.

Then you will have to contact the property owner and ask them to refund the money.

If that does not work then you have to go after the person who authorized the tow.  
If that does not work then its time to contact the tow company for a refund, but remember that they were doing what they were contracted to do, so do not expect them to just give up easy. They were told to take the vehicle in most cases.

If none of those refund the money and you still feel you were wronged then you do have the small claims court where you can take your turn and try to convince a judge that you were wronged.  That will take a lot of documentation and proof on your part, so keep good notes on everything.


Hope this helps.