Towing Issues: My car in private property in San Jose, CA, carport area, dmv website

Question
Last Saturday, while helping my girlfriend move, I parked my car in front of hers and got towed by a towing company. Her car is in a covered carport, mine is just outside the carport, blocking hers. My question is, does this towing company have the right to come into the apartment complex and tow my car away? I do not know who called them. The address where I parked was 1568 Four Oaks Drive, San Jose, California. I paid $290 to get my car back. Can I sue the towing company for illegally towing my car? Thanks for your help.

Answer
Well depending on a few things, yes the tow company can come tow the vehicle away...

First of all most carports are designed for 1 deep vehicle parking and anyone parked behind the other one is,  ONE  blocking the driveway or drive area,  TWO it might be that anything behind the carport area is considered a "fire lane" and as such is subject to towing, either by the tow company getting a call from management or being under contract to "patrol - cruise" the parking lot for violators.

California laws (there are many of them) which regulate tow companies and vehicles parking on private property (remember that part) do allow of vehicles which are breaking the rules of the complex to be towed away either "right away if it is in a fire lane" or there are provisions for a "one hour waiting period" in some cases...



The DMV website is huge and has lots of different things which come into play for determining the correct answers here and I will link it to you at the end and you can read some of the rules...

But if you want to sue the tow company there is nothing that I can do to say no you can not...

But remember that even if the tow company has a contract to "patrol" the complex there is still someone who had to give the initial authorizations to the tow company. All of them will have a contract in some form which is the key here..

Also you are supposed to be able to find out who authorized the tow and there is even a provision where you can get a copy of the "photo proof" which shows the violation.

It boils down to someone really said to tow your car or certain vehicles parked in certain ways.



http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22658.htm