Towing Issues: I dont think this is legal, salvage yard, illegal parking

Question
My husbands truck was stollen from our home near buffalo NY in early march.  Our neighbor called us a few day ago to let us know that our truck was at a salvage yard since the 21'st.  Apparently, they never ran the plates or made an effort to contact us.  My husband had to return with the police so they could take it to their lot for processing.  Dont these people need to run the plates or try to contact the owners.  If our neighbor hadn't gone there, we would have never located it.  Plus, he still wants to charge us for the tow and storage.  It just doesnt seem right to me.

Answer
Well sorry to hear that the vehicle was stolen, but also glad to hear that you have recovered it.. A lot of vehicles are never found again..

Now I know that the laws say that vehicles towed and stored are supposed to have local police notified and letters sent to the last registered owner and or lein holder.. Now this process also requires the police or DMW to furnish the name and address to the towing company.. But even though this is a law it also has time frames for each procedure to follow..
The towing / salvage yard might of been doing the paperwork according to the law..

BUT THEN, Buffalo New York area has also has a big run in stolen vehicles being towed to salvage yard by rouge towers who go steal vehicles and forge papers to be able to get rid of their own vehicles or things like that.. Hard to really say what happened there.  If I remember recently there was an arrest of a person in that area who was stealing lots of vehicles and tried to say he was doing it as a sting for the police department...

Now as to the towing and storage, well there are lots of things that also affect that issue..  IF the salvage yard actually did the tow, there should be some authorization to do the tow.. Be it from a parking lot for illegal parking or abandoned  or be the authorization by a local law enforcement agency..

Now I know that people who have the vehicle stolen and then towed and stored all feel that they are victimized twice.. It happens to be one of the biggest issues we towers face.. But one thing to remember is that a towing company is not a public service supported by tax payers like the police and fire departments.. They are private businesses which provide a service and have costs and expenses which they have to recover...

This issue has more to it as I can see, and it would be interesting to find out the rest of the story...

Real issue is how did the towing company come into possession of the vehicle, and that answer will help answer  more questions..  Hope this helps you a bit..