Towing Issues: TOWED ILLEGALLY, small claims court, loading zone

Question
QUESTION: okay so here is the case i was at a friends house... and i was parked in the 1 hour loading zone... so i leave to pick my other friend up and came back parked in the same parking in the loading zone... i come back 20 minutes later and my car is gone... it is towed away... so i pay the fee... is there anyway to get my money back... or if so before i pay is there any way to get my car back without paying?

ANSWER: well  I hate to say it, but chances are not good..  Reason that I say that is if you were parked and someone (either the manager or a tow truck who patrols the lot) seen the vehicle in the 1 hour zone and then recorded the information and did not check it for the next hour, they would of missed you leaving and when you came back..  To them it would appear that you were there the whole time...

That or you might of had the vehicle ordered towed just before you left and the tow truck arrived just after you got back...  

I doubt you could get anything help in getting the money back, but you never know what the courts would say... You can always try the small claims court and see what happens.

Good luck


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: nobody called the tow... they just did it on their own you really dont think i could get it back? usually in hawaii they suppose to chalk your tires then take a picture

Answer
As you FINALLY told me what State you are in, I can at least look at the regulations which might affect the tow..

According to what I have found for a law is 290-11 which covers removal of vehicles from private property..  (copy I found is from 2002 though)

There is some sign regulations, some information about fees, how to notify the owners,  how to dispose of unclaimed vehicles..

Now as to the chalking of tires, well police usually do that when its at a parking meter.. That establishes that it was there at a certain time..  

Photos, well I see nothing about that in there, but "PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE" and experience of myself, is that pictures taken of the offending vehicle do several things. First they establish the fact the vehicle was in fact there at that point in time...  Second they establish the fact that there might be prior existing damage to the vehicle before it was towed.


Now the loading zone you mentioned,  is that on a public street (the police would have it towed then, or was it a 1 hour loading zone in a parking lot?

I hate to say it, but this question is typical of what I have to answer.. I GET NO INFORMATION, but am expected to provide an answer of which the person seems to think I know exactly what happened, where the vehicle was parked and so forth..

It is really hard to convince a tow company that the vehicle was towed illegally, and that it should be released for free... Look at it like you going to jail... They do not let you out till you pay or post the bond and then go to court.

A lot of this answer depends on where it was actually parked and if it was on private property or public streets or property.