Towing Issues: illegal tow?, storage fee, mobile home parks

Question
I live in Miami and my car was towed on a Saturday from in front of a neighbor's house even though it was legally parked, and only there for four hours. After calling the police (I thought it might have been stolen) I was told it was towed. I found it after calling several companies, and they told me that they weren't open until Monday. I owe them for storing the car in the lot, even though I wanted to pick it up on Saturday. Can a company just tow a car that hasn't been parked illegally? If they claim it was illegally parked (which they don't so far) do they have to prove that it was illegally parked? Do I really owe them for the entire weekend? Can a company be open to take your car, but not open for you to get it back on the same day? I feel like I've been scammed out of a weekend of car use and out of my money.

Answer
Well the biggest question I have is concerning who authorized the tow... You say it was in front of a neighbors house... Is this on a public street, or in a condo complex...  Is it a homeowners association development ?

There are a lot of questions here that need to be answered..

Generally if the vehicle was parked on a public street then the local police would have ordered the tow.. In condos, apartments or places like mobile home parks, then it could be ordered by the property manager...

NOW on to the biggest confusing issue about towing companies and the hours they are open... Read closely the statement I am going to make below.  It is usually what people are told..

" I am sorry but our office is closed till Monday morning, but you are able to redeem your vehicle at any time by paying an after hours release fee"

Most people stop listening after the monday morning comment...

Now this fee can at times be more than leaving the vehicle over the rest of the weekend.. It depends on what the fee amount is, and what the daily storage fee is...

Now I feel for you and your thoughts about the vehicle being there and you not being able to be used.. It does feel that way..

Now back to the tow,  a lot of towing services take pictures of the vehicles and how they are parked before they are towed... That way there is proof of violation, but not every company does this..


Sorry, but I am not sure what you can do other than trying to prove it was legally parked and maybe going the small claims court route.