Towing Issues: Redeem towed car, todays computers, side sections

Question
My sons car has been towed in Tampa, FL from an apartment complex. Since his car is registered in my name he was not allowed to redeem it. Since I have moved 3 hours away I was trying to resolve the problem and fax them a NOTARIZED letter to allow my son to redeem his car. I was told that the original letter is needed and no fax is excepted. I had to drive and redeem the car. Since the whole situation is already unpleasant it was very aggravating. Is it true that FL towing companies cannot except notarized faxes? I greatly appreciate your help. Thank you

Answer
Well this issue is very common which kids driving either vehicles owned by parents or others especially in my area around spring break time.

Now I can not vouch for the "company policies" of the particular tow company in question, but "OUR POLICY" is that we do accept faxes in most cases. BUT we really prefer that the fax is from the bank or such who does the "Notarized Seal" as we have the bank records and cover letter then on file.

Todays computers can do amazing things and it happens to be more of a "cover your butt" deal when releasing the vehicle.
You should hear the stories online (in towing forums) of where the "EX" picks up the others vehicle and it ends up being a stolen vehicle incident.

But the long story short in this issue is that they were also trying to protect you (the vehicle owners) rights by making sure that the proper person redeemed the vehicle.

Now there used to be "an expert" on here from Florida and she did a great job of answering questions, but she is not here anymore. But her company has a great website which covers a lot of the laws and stuff about Florida and it might help provide an answer for you.

Check out  http://www.towingbydanny.com/index2.html and browse the left side sections on rules and laws stuff... it might give you more answers...  

Good luck