Towing Issues: Vehicle Immobilization, bad apples, vehicle immobilization

Question
I live in Bethesda, MD and was recently booted as an alternative to towing.  It was actually more convenient, and I was parked in a no parking zone at an apartment complex.  I paid a private company $50 removal fee.  is this legal?

Answer
in most places it is legal and not widely used.  Reason is that it tends to still have the issue of an Unauthorized vehicle parked in violation...

Yes it is more convenient but not all companies will keep the rates low or be nice when releasing the vehicle as we all know there are a few bad apples in every bunch...

In places like Orlando, Tampa, Baltimore and other big cities I think we will see more booting of vehicles for certain violations but it might be only about 20% or so of all vehicles will be booted.
Towing will still be the big deterrent and with that will continue the associated problems..