Towing Issues: Car got towed from outside apartment complex. HELP!!, town alot, exit gates

Question
We live in a very small apartment complex in houston texas. We came home one night to find one of my husbands four vehicles missing from the small four some parking lot outside the apartment complex. The small lots are mainly used for residents who live close to the ouside gates and are willing to park outside the gated part of the community. Mind you there are no tow signs anywhere near or around the small parking lot. You can find tow signs on the inside of the apartments entrance and exit gates. Mainly to keep covered parkings designated. We have lived here for over two years and have yet to see a wrecker driver so it was much to our surprise that the car had been towed. We know the office staff pretty well and they were already aware that we travel out of town alot and that we have multiple cars to use so one may not get moved for a while. When i called the storage lot they told me it had been towed because it was inoperable and abandoned! Not true at all.... What can i do about this? Can they even tow from somewhere there are no signs?? If not how do i go about making sure he doesn't do this to anyone else...

Answer
Well I am not sure what you can do, as I do not know what to suggest as Houston has some strange and also lacking laws regarding towing of vehicles from private property.

Not every state has a sign requirement, and then some laws have a minimum space requirement before signs are required.

The small lot, who owns that property... Is it the apartments or is it owned by someone else... That is the key here in the whole issue.


Check out the links below and they should help you get pointed in the right directions.

(PS Texas is in the midst of changing the rule and regulations regarding towing so some of this might change in the near future if it has not already done so...)

******** some reference links below *****

http://www.jp.hctx.net/tow/RequestTowHearing.pdf

http://law.onecle.com/texas/transportation/chapter684.html