QuestionI know you don't have a lot of knowledge on towing fees, according to your info, however, do you know where a person kind find out the law, limitations or statutes. My situation is I got permission to park a vehicle on private property but my vehicle was accidently towed, (an RV actually). The fee to get it out is $480. A story was just done on the news about the fact that a tow company can't hold your vehicle...so..when I mentioned that to the tow company, they said yes, I can pick it up but if I don't pay them back within 24 hours they will tack on $500 more. I was shocked. So, if I leave it there, it accrues storage fees, if I pick it up to save myself the storage fees, they only give me 24 hours to pay in full or charge me $500. How is this possible? Someone must know something. Any ideas? Thanks for any help.
AnswerWell Lisa, I have to say that specific rates are hard to pin down on "non consent third party tows" which is what vehicles being towed from private property are. Especially if I have no idea what City or State you are asking about. Some states have regulated rates to be charged for this kind of service (Louisiana, Massachusetts come to mind) and that is just the few that I can think of right off hand.
California has a new law (1-1-07) which says that the tow rate can not exceed the rate for Highway Patrol tows which are regulated.
But in a nut shell towing businesses are private businesses and they can set rates at what they need to recover costs and make a profit.
Now with you saying the part about getting the vehicle back without paying, I believe there is some kind of law in Arizona which will allow that. But since I do not have the specific location I can not really provide an answer.
