Towing Issues: sold without title, private property owner, tow company

Question
About 4 years ago in Las Vegas, NV our car was towed from an apt. complex. I found out where it was with a huge bill not worth the cost of the car (which was broken anyway). We went back a few weeks later to collect our personal items and they had already sold the car without a title or me receiving a certified letter or signing anything. We just walked away thinking it was all done with. They couldn't make us pay without a car to get, as they had sold it. We received nothing from the towing company of an outstanding bill or overdue charges. Now 4 years later we got a call from a collecting agency saying we own them $1500 dollars from the tow charges. Do we have to pay this? We called the tow company and they basically said they are not involved anymore. Is it now a battle with the collection agency or do we have some case in that the tow company sold the car without a title?

Answer
Well this question is one I get quite often..

In a nut shell and in general terms here is an answer for you...

When a towing service removes a vehicle either at the direction of a law enforcement agency or a private property owner/manager they perform a service towing the vehicle to their yard.. Now according to State laws (and in some cases City laws) they have a "possessionary, or mechanics, or towing lien"  on the vehicle which they use to hold the vehicle until payment is made...
Yes the tow costs money and the daily storage (think rental of the ground space the vehicle takes up) adds up..

Now according to State laws, the tow company has the rights and power to file legal papers, place public notices regarding the towing and storage of the vehicle announcing the impending sale of the vehicle... This is called the "LIEN PROCESS"
End result of the Lien process is that the tow company either obtains a "lien title" or a clear title to the vehicle. But either of those do cause the vehicle to be legally sold or what ever by the tow company and as such void out the original title to the vehicle.. This also does over ride any titles with legal owners such as banks and finance companies.
Now according to various state laws, some place a time frame on how long you have to redeem the vehicle before it is sold, some place time frames depending on the value of the vehicle, some place time frames due to the ordering party (Police tows are sometimes faster than private tows in lien processes)

Now I am always amazed that people want to just walk away and decide that you do not owe anything when a vehicle is towed...  90% of the states have laws where the vehicle owner is responsible for any and all towing and storage fees including the legal fees to obtain the lien papers..

Now even if the tow company obtains the lien in a timely manner (say 45 days) they still have expenses of towing it originally, the storage fee, lien fees and such which can add to up over $1000.00 very quickly...

As with any business, the goal in business is to have an income and produce a profit, and when tow companies lose money on tows then it sometimes becomes time for collection agencies to enter the picture.

Now as to if you "have to pay" the amount, it varies with a few issues... Was the vehicle registered to you, were you notified of the tow and storage and lien sales. Tow companies send certified letters out advising of the lien process and charges, and that means there is a paper trail...

It also depends on how much you value your credit ratings, you can ignore it if you really want but we all know how collection agencies work..


Talk to the collection agency is my best advise and see what can be done..

I hope this helped you understand the issue.