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Towing Laws on non-registered vehicles on private property

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Ardabus

Junior Member
California

My truck (which hasn't run for 2 years) was parked behind my apartment complex, on private property. It was towed because of expired registration.

My question is this: Is it legal to have an unregistered, non-running vehicle on private property? Should my apartment manager be the one that needs pay for my truck to get out of impound? He is the one that told me it was private property and said I could park in the back. There is an underground spot that he has which "he didn't want to clean up" that i could have parked in that would have alleviated this whole thing.


Thanks!
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
California

My truck (which hasn't run for 2 years) was parked behind my apartment complex, on private property. It was towed because of expired registration.

My question is this: Is it legal to have an unregistered, non-running vehicle on private property? Should my apartment manager be the one that needs pay for my truck to get out of impound? He is the one that told me it was private property and said I could park in the back. There is an underground spot that he has which "he didn't want to clean up" that i could have parked in that would have alleviated this whole thing.


Thanks!
Who authorized the tow?
 

Ardabus

Junior Member
i have no idea! i had to call around to find where it was towed. i suspect it was the church/school next door, they had a carnival-fair and it gets crazy with cars, so i assume they just hire a tow truck for the weekend to tow any cars in the area that are "illegally parked" and they just assumed my vehicle was one of those, and it was lucky for the tow truck driver that my car was unregistered?

EDIT: and thank you for the incredibly fast response!!
 
Last edited:

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
i have no idea! i had to call around to find where it was towed. i suspect it was the church/school next door, they had a carnival-fair and it gets crazy with cars, so i assume they just hire a tow truck for the weekend to tow any cars in the area that are "illegally parked" and they just assumed my vehicle was one of those, and it was lucky for the tow truck driver that my car was unregistered?

EDIT: and thank you for the incredibly fast response!!
Ok, let's go with the church theory.
YOU are responsible for where you parked YOUR vehicle. Was your vehicle parked on THEIR property?
 

Ardabus

Junior Member
no, according to my apartment manager it's his property. there is even an alleyway between my apartment and the church. So unless they own the alley and part of his driveway, then it was my apartment managers property.

if he was wrong and it's not his property, is it my fault or his? he assured me over and over it was fine to park there indefinitely.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
First, contact the tow company and get your car out. When you are there, ask to see the paperwork authorizing the tow. For a private property tow, SOMEONE had to approve of the impound and that information should be on the form.

If it was towed by the city or the police, then you will have to find out whether the place you were parked was considered public or private property and under what statutory authority the impound was made.
 

Ardabus

Junior Member
i don't have the money to get it out, but that's not my point. if i had the money it would be out. I feel that if my truck is on private property, regardless of the state of it's condition that i shouldn't have to pay to get it out, unless it wasn't on private property, in which case it would be my apartment managers fault for telling me to put my truck there instead of the garaged space that he had (which is technically part of my rent), but didn't want to "clean out" at the time.

If i park on someone's private property, and the owner tells me to park there, and the vehicle is towed, is it still my liability?

EDIT: some more information: the truck has been parked in this spot for over a year with no tickets or problems whatsoever. the vechicle doesn't run and hasn't run for a while. i haven't moved the vehicle for any reason, and it's been unregistered for almost 2 years. it was (according to my apartment manager) clearly on his property.
 
Last edited:

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
i don't have the money to get it out, but that's not my point. if i had the money it would be out. I feel that if my truck is on private property, regardless of the state of it's condition that i shouldn't have to pay to get it out, unless it wasn't on private property, in which case it would be my apartment managers fault for telling me to put my truck there instead of the garaged space that he had (which is technically part of my rent), but didn't want to "clean out" at the time.

If i park on someone's private property, and the owner tells me to park there, and the vehicle is towed, is it still my liability?
The question is this: Who would have liability? At this point you don't know the answer to that question. Is it the tow company? Is it your property owner? Is it the church? You just don't know.

Furthermore, you have to mitigate your damages. You can't just let the car sit there accruing fees...be proactive here.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
i don't have the money to get it out, but that's not my point. if i had the money it would be out. I feel that if my truck is on private property, regardless of the state of it's condition that i shouldn't have to pay to get it out, unless it wasn't on private property, in which case it would be my apartment managers fault for telling me to put my truck there instead of the garaged space that he had (which is technically part of my rent), but didn't want to "clean out" at the time.

If i park on someone's private property, and the owner tells me to park there, and the vehicle is towed, is it still my liability?

EDIT: some more information: the truck has been parked in this spot for over a year with no tickets or problems whatsoever. the vechicle doesn't run and hasn't run for a while. i haven't moved the vehicle for any reason, and it's been unregistered for almost 2 years. it was (according to my apartment manager) clearly on his property.
And, again, the question is: Who authorized the tow? Whose name is on the tow company's paperwork?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
EDIT: some more information: the truck has been parked in this spot for over a year with no tickets or problems whatsoever. the vechicle doesn't run and hasn't run for a while. i haven't moved the vehicle for any reason, and it's been unregistered for almost 2 years. it was (according to my apartment manager) clearly on his property.
Now you have an additional wrinkle added in. In some municipalities, it is against the local code/ordinance (ie: the law) to have a vehicle parked as you described.

As you've been told, find out who authorized the tow.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
In some places it is perfectly legal for police to go onto private property to impound illegal vehicles.
 

racer72

Senior Member
i don't have the money to get it out,
This will be another problem especially if you can prove the tow was not legal. If you were to sue for your "damages", you could only sue for the cost of the tow and storage till you discovered the vehicle was towed. Anything expenses beyond those are yours, you have an obligation to mitigate any potential damages. This means retreiving the vehicle when you found it towed.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
In some places it is perfectly legal for police to go onto private property to impound illegal vehicles.
In CA this would be rare. Now, if the vehicle was being abated pursuant to a local ordinance and state law, it is possible. However, in such a case, the property owner would have been given plenty of advanced notice and the registered owner would also be notified (assuming that both had current addresses on file with the assessor's office and the DMV respectively).

I suspect there is more to this. Or, the tow company is operating a "pirate tow" operation and the whole thing is illegal. But, until the OP can tell us what the tow company indicates on the paperwork as the legal authority to impound it, we can't evaluate it. he can always call the police and see if they will look into it, but that's a big "maybe."
 

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