Towing Issues: towing, tow truck driver, police cars

Question
HI,recently my boyfriend's cars (2) were towed. He parked them by his best friends house . A neighbor slashed his tires, so he could not move the cars. In Anaheim, CA there is a 72hr parking limit. on monday he went to move his cars, and there was a courtesy notice on his car. On wednesdat of that same week, well within 72 hours, as soon as he got to his friends house, a tow truck was their with both his cars on the truck, and 3 police cars were there. My boyfriend explained how it has not been 72 hours yet, and asked if his cars could be released from the vehicle, the tow truck driver said once it's on the tow truck he cannot release the vehicles. At that point the police officer also gave his two tickets. my boyfriend had to pay 104$ 52$ per vehicle and a few hundred to the police station for their permission to release the vehicles, and 700$ to realease them. Is this all legal? the officers also asked him if he lived their, my bf said know, they then said it's against the law for him to park there. How is that possible, are visitors supposed to park outside of the city? this is very frustrating considering we always obey the laws, and anytime we need something, the cops are nowhere to be found. My bf heard from a friend that a new law passed in 2007 where your car cannot be towed without notifying the owner of the vehicles. I have searched very hard, cannot find anything. He was not notified, is there anything we can do? Is it possible to get a refund for all of those fees or parts thereof?

Answer
Ok, first of all, this law you are talking about is mainly aimed at towing vehicles from private property parking lots, like apartments and shopping centers type property.

Now, for your problem. I hate to say it but it sounds like your boyfriend is out of luck and some hard earned cash.

You mention that the notices were on the vehicle on Monday, ok that means that someone put them on there before that time. From what I gather they were parked on the street in front of the friends house. Yes there are laws regarding leaving vehicles parked on the streets for long periods of time. Most common one across the US is 72 hours.  This is to prevent vehicles which are abandoned or junk from sitting on the streets. Its a public safety and a image issue in most places.

The fees, well the ticket is something the police have set that amount at. The Fee for the release papers (well lots of police departments have come up with that as a hidden tax (for lack of a better description) to cover paperwork costs).

Now the tow truck driver was right, without the release paperwork he could not return the vehicles. Its a paperwork issue at that point.  The fees for towing 2 vehicles kind of seems high to me (based on our rates here in Alabama ) but police department towing contracts usually have towing rates spelled out in them as to what kind of fees can be charges for services.
For California that most likely is about the right amount to be charges.

Now as to the chance of getting part of the fees back, I hate to say it but not likely. Reason is that it was towed most likely as a result of the vehicles being inoperative at that point (slashed tires which is a criminal issue if you can prove who did it, was a police report filed ? and if so how long before the towing was that done)

If you want to search the towing laws, check out CHP which has a place about if your car was towed. It has some basic information on state laws and what you can do. California DMV laws include the new laws on towing and notifications which are very confusing in some of the requirements for notifications.  

I wish you luck , but this just seems like one of those life lessons which we all are faced with at times.