Towing Issues: towing in California, tow truck driver, nut shell

Question
Hello,
My sister lives in an apartment complex where they are allotted one space for parking and were provided a decal for their vehicle.  Yesterday they purchased a new car and parked it in their spot, and an hour later a neighbor told them that their car was being towed!  They rushed out and was told by the tow truck driver that he has a contract with the apartment complex to periodically drive through the lot and tow any vehicle without a parking decal and would not release the car without them paying an $80 drop fee.  Is this legal?  Thank you for any insight...

Answer
Well, first of all there are lots of rules and regulations regarding towing of vehicles in a "patrol towing" contract with apartment complexes.

Several Cities and states have outlawed them, but its hard to tell you with 100% answers if its legal there.  
I know California has changes in towing laws which will become effective Jan 1 2007.  

In a nut shell though, towing services need a signed authorization for removal of vehicles. But with the patrol contracts, it usually spells out exactly what vehicles may be taken.  
Vehicles in fire lanes and vehicles without the proper decals are usually the ones to go.  
Now as the new vehicle purchase, I know this is a gray area deal, it did not have the decal, but then where and how do they get the decal. One hour is quite a quick service to catch the violation.

In true patrol towing, I used to cruise the lots at a random time as that was best way to catch violators. BUT if its a lot that generates a lot of tows, they would patrol it more often.  Each tow is pay for the driver as most work on commission.

The payment of the $ 80.00 drop fee is correct, as they are allowed payment for providing the service even if they are caught. It is also usually 1/2 of the basic fee if they had left the parking lot with the vehicle in tow.
Legal, yes it is.

Now if you want to check out some California laws, there are a few you might want to read about tows, but keep in mind that the laws are going to change soon. But a lot of people think they have already changed.

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

or

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22953.htm


and the laws which take and change in Jan of 2007 here

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2201-2250/ab_2210_cfa_20060421_161419_asm...

I hope this information helps

Richard