Towing Issues: Illegal Sweeps, pico rivera ca, california dmv

Question
Hello Richard, This past weekend, my wife and I experienced something that was very troubling and confusing. I live in Los Angeles,CA and the incident occurred in Pico Rivera, CA. My wife and I went to visit our friends at their town home located in Pico Rivera, CA. Since there was no parking, our friends told us to park in front of their garage. Within minutes, the tow truck had swept our car and our friends ran after them forcing them to stop. Suddenly, all the neighbors heard us outside and came out and began to yell at the driver. It was evident that this towing co had towed many of the neighbors cars as well. We ask the driver why he did not notify us first, per the new policy, and tried to convince him that he had to drop the car but he insisted that he was unaware of any changes regarding the Home Owners Association's policies and asked us to pay $120. I called the Sheriff Dept and they asked me if I had anything in writing that these changes have been made. If not, I would have to allow the tow co to take my car or pay the fee ($120). The problem is that the entrance gate to the community has been broken for some time now and the tow company continues to roam around the looking for cars that are parked in front of the garage. The driver took our car and made us pay the fee because he said he was unaware of the new changes and we had to prove it. All I want to know is, which agencies can I contact so that this company can be investigated and fined?
Thank you in advance.

Answer
California DMV rules apply to towing vehicles from property and they have penalties and such that apply to "illegal tows"

But I am not sure if they are the ones who enforce the rules and do the court or other issues..   You can check with them and see what they say about it..

Also check with the local police as they usually have an officer who does keep tabs on tow companies and make sure they are legal and such...

Also it does sound like the HOA did not notify the tow company or the tow company is just playing stupid and trying to trick people into paying for something that is not to be happening ...

Key thing is to make sure that first off "IN ANY PARKING LOT" that   you follow any and all rules about parking which are on signs and such or that you think could even apply...  For example if you park at McDonalds and eat and then walk next door to Walgreens are you really a customer of McDonalds anymore and legal to park there?

I have even heard (and had questions here about this issue) of people parking in a parking lot and either walking to the mailbox on the corner or to the pay phone and the vehicle being towed because they "exited the property"

Be careful and be alert and you might be safe, but remember that not all tow companies are bad, just a handful make it seem bad and they get all the bad image in the media for the rest of the legal companies.