Towing Issues: Shady Towing Company, owners cars, visitor spaces

Question
Richard,
I hope you can help me.  I live in Rancho Cucamonga in a condo where we have very limited parking.  My mother came to drop my daughter off and parked parallel to my garage on the small apron.  Her tires were slightly on the street.  This is considered a fire lane.  My mother is Handicapped and there were no parking spaces available, she thought she would be okay just to run my daughter in.  She stood in our entryway and we talked for 3 minutes and a neighbor came by to tell me that her car was getting towed.  Our HOA has contracted with this company and they are like vultures looking for prey.  By the time we ran out there he was taking off!  He had to have watched my mother hobble out of her car and then work quiet and swift.  When we went to retrieve the vehicle, it cost $295 and had only been there for 10 minutes!  My mother asked if she could look at the picture of her car that happened to be up on the computer screen on the other side of the room and the girl at the desk said no.  She did not provide a copy of the picture either, which I found out later is required by law.  This morning my mom noticed a 3 inch scratch on her bumper where the paint is peeled away which she is positive was not there before.  I mentioned this to the supervisor and he told me that there is no way the truck could have caused this damage and if it had caused any damage the whole bumper would be smashed in.  

Currently I am dealing with my HOA to see if they will reimburse the towing charges due to the fact that they don't enforce existing parking regulations which state that owners cars must not occupy visitor spaces.  (The board members themselves use these spaces freely).  I would really like to deal with this towing company and get compensated for the damages to my mom's vehicle and I don't know where to begin.  It seems I can't speak to an owner and the supervisor is unwilling to work with me and tells me that he'll make a note of this...  

thanks for you help!!

Answer
well Katie it seems you have done some research into the laws in California, which is great as you know what you can and can not do in this case...
Unfortunately enforcement of parking regulations is one where it seems to be a hit or miss deal... Good luck with the HOA and trying to resolve this issue (hope it does not make it to hard to continue to live there)

Now fire lane violations are basically the last area where the tow company can tow as soon as the vehicle is unattended (I have heard of some people being towed in fire lanes while they are opening the garage door to get in with the vehicle parked right there)

Yes the tow company seems to act fast, but most of the time they are cruising the lot on a random basis to find violators... I do not think they leave a tow truck there 24 hours a day just in case someone parks wrong (tow trucks are expensive)   It sounds as if it was just one of those random times they were there, unless the times mentioned are wrong.

I would also be checking into the violations of the laws regarding the picture (s) you are supposed to get...  (a smart company would also present you pictures showing prior damage to the vehicle so they can not be blamed)

I would also keep trying to contact someone at the tow company about the damage, and keep good records about all the calls and contacts you make...  Also a good idea would be for you to take the vehicle to a body shop for an estimate and see what it will cost to have it repaired..  Do not tell them how it happened and see if they can tell you what caused the damage... That might back up your claim or prove that the tow company did not do the damage..
Also remember if something is scratched, bent or what ever there is usually paint transfer from the offending vehicle..

For example you have a blue car, the dent has red paint in it also, and you were towed by a red truck. That might help, but if the paint is red and the truck is white you might be out of luck..

I hope this helps but its a battle of time and patience I believe to solve the whole issue.. Good luck and I hope this helped.