QuestionQUESTION: I am a frequent guest (Platinum member (not that it means anything anymore)) at a local Marriott in Northern Virginia. I asked the front desk manager if I could leave my 1993 Mazda car in the lower level parking garage in between stays as I live in NJ and I take the train in. They put me in touch with the head of security who photocopied my license, wrote down the year, make and model of the car and my cell phone number. He said it would be fine and would call if it became a problem. I was last at the Marriott the 2nd week of Feb 2009, On March 9, 2009 the car was towed by a local Virginia towing company. I checked into the Marriott on 4/16/09 and notified security immediately that either my car was stolen or towed. The security rep immediately said it was towed. He said he had put a note on the car and I didn't respond so it was towed. I asked him if he recalled that a photocopy of my license was made with the make and model of the car along with my cell phone - he said yes he definitely recalls that but management told him to have all cars towed that hadn't moved in a few days and the piece of paper with my contact information mysteriously disappeared. I spoke to the Asst GM at Marriott and she told me this was a new policy in effect since there were customers from local businesses parking there for free. The only thing she would do for me was to pay for my cab to the tow lot. I called the tow company (that Marriott called to have the car towed) and the fee is a little over $2,000. I asked why they didn't notify me that they had the car. They said they contacted the Virginia DMV to notify the title owner but the DMV came back and said they couldn't find the owner. Keep in mind there are NJ tags on the car. They said that is as much as they needed to do. Pay the $2000 or the car is going to auction at which time if sold I would need to pay the difference between what it sold for and the lot fees. They continued by saying there would be collection fees involved and it would hit my credit report if I didn't pay and the car would be considered abandoned. My question is - shouldn't the Marriott have tried to contact me? Or the local police? I am not sure who to pursue. Do I need an attorney? I have asked the Marriott to call the tow company and ask them to waive the lot fees and I will pay the tow fee but the Marriott simply says no. The Marriott security person clearly stated it was ok. What should I do? Thanks
ANSWER: Well, I have to say that this issue is one were there are a few "KEY POINTS" which affect the issue.
First of all, the "verbal contract" which the management and the head of security are a key here, but are very hard to prove if you went to court. But the fact that they took all the information including the description and your contact information does play into some kind of consent agreement (remember I am a tow truck driver not a lawyer)
Now if they decided at a point to have the vehicle removed for being "abandoned" that means that they had to authorize the tow company to remove it in writing. That will be a key point, especially if the same person who took the information ordered the tow.
As to notifying you, well the hotel could of done that if they decided to, but its one of those deals specially where the "info" disappeared.
As to the tow company, trying to find you, well they did what the law says about searching DMV records in "THEIR STATE" But they are also supposed to search out of state if there is evidence of it being an out of state vehicle. This seems to be a violation of the laws which regulate the towers and how they operate.
(SIDE NOTE, Virginia is in the middle of changing all the regulations of tow company operations with the creation of the "BATRO" (I forget what it stands for) But you can contact the Virginia Tow Truck Association and see if they can point you to the right area of the laws which currently apply. All my links are to older laws which have or are being changed. I am trying to keep up on it in Virginia but its a headache being as I am in Alabama .)
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This is how you can get in touch with VATRO for more information. Please feel free to email us or call.
Our Mailing Address is:
VATRO
P.O. Box 147
Manassas, VA 20108-0147
Administrator: Susan Brassell
email: sue@vatro.org
Our Phone Numbers are:
(800) 541-2432
(703) 330-9188
Fax (703) 361-1749
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Now the tow company is supposed to notify the police that the vehicle was towed and that is so that it is not reported as stolen. That is policy.
As to the sale of the vehicle, well I guess that they are doing the lien, even if it is a halfway attempt at the process from what you are telling me. Yes standard practice is to sell the vehicle and the difference is collectable from the owner of the vehicle in collections or even small claims court.
As to who to go after, well there is the saying "sue them all, let the judge sort it out" and that might be what you need to do...
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QUESTION: Thanks so much - one more question - I picked up the car and put a portion of it on my Visa ($1,600). I researched the Virginia and Fairfax County code and the tow company was supposed to notify me - can I now dispute that charge on my Visa? Is that sufficient reason? Should I obtain some type of police report that the tow company would have filed? Lastly - do you think it is worth it to file criminal charges against Marriott and file a police report while I am in town? Thanks so much!
AnswerAs far as I know, disputing charges on credit cards have rules and regulations which have to be followed.
As to the rest of the questions it gets a bit legal there, and I think you might want to bounce over to a legal board and ask them about it. That might help more than what answers I can give you.
