QuestionI live in Arlington, TX and my son went to visit a friend at an apartment complex. This was around midnight. The next thing he knew his truck alarm was going off and he rushed out and a tow truck was hauling his truck off. He called the police but no one had called in to report that they were taking his truck. No explanation nothing on why they took his truck. Cost us $245 to get it out of the towing company's pound. Can apartment complexes have your vehicle towed off like that without reporting it to the police. If he hadn't seen the wrecker driving off we wouldn't know what happened to it. Thank you.
AnswerI know that Texas has just changed or is changing rules about towing from private property (apartments and such), but I do believe that the tow company has to get "specific written authorization" before towing the vehicle and also has to notify the police when it is either in tow, or when it gets to the storage yard, within like 30 minutes...
Texas Transportation code and also Arlington city codes both cover this issue, but a link to the Arlington codes follows this answer.
Pay attention the the 4.xx sections for non consent towing provisions. I know there is lots of other things which do not affect this tow, but you can see what kind of confusing rules and such are there.
Now I am not sure "why" the apartment management had the vehicle towed, as I was not there and did not park the vehicle or do the tow, so I can not tell what the reason was it was towed. But most likely it was in a reserved space and someone complained, or that the lot needed permits to park where it was at. (those are the most common reasons for towing)
Now the $ 245.00 actually sounds about right to get the vehicle back (from prior answers here)...
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Texas/arlington/thecodeofthecityofarlingt...
