personal property in a impounded vehical in michigan

[beagle04]

I friend of mine got a dui and his vehicle was impounded. he is still incarcerated and at this point the fee's are more than the car is worth. he gave me written permission to get his personal property out when I went to the lot they refused anything but title registration etc but no personal property!! how do I get the personal property with out paying the huge fee's incurred and is this even legal for them to do this seems pretty crappy on there part

 

[AnonUserName]

I friend of mine got a dui and his vehicle was impounded. he is still incarcerated and at this point the fee's are more than the car is worth. he gave me written permission to get his personal property out when I went to the lot they refused anything but title registration etc but no personal property!! how do I get the personal property with out paying the huge fee's incurred and is this even legal for them to do this seems pretty crappy on there part

Did you ask an employee of the lot?

 

[HighwayMan]

What is the nature of the impound lot? Is it a police facility or a private tow company?

 

[beagle04]

info found

well I went to the sheriffs office today and was told there is no set rule or law on personal property if it is not being held by the police. I was told to talk with the lot owner (private tow company) to see if I could work out a deal!!.long story short got some stuff back but not all with a LOT of A kissing to this guy. seem's like quite a racket they have not only get your car by charging HUGE fee's they take all the good s%% out i.e. stereo. air bags, motor, rims, etc and sell on the side then scrap the rest. glad it was not mine. thanks for looking at this thread. oh I forgot to mention that when I told the lot owner I had talked with the sheriffs dept he had a SMALL attitude change and allowed me to get a few things but not all. made me wonder what this bozo was up to.

 

[quincy]

well I went to the sheriffs office today and was told there is no set rule or law on personal property if it is not being held by the police. I was told to talk with the lot owner (private tow company) to see if I could work out a deal!!.long story short got some stuff back but not all with a LOT of A kissing to this guy. seem's like quite a racket they have not only get your car by charging HUGE fee's they take all the good s%% out i.e. stereo. air bags, motor, rims, etc and sell on the side then scrap the rest. glad it was not mine. thanks for looking at this thread. oh I forgot to mention that when I told the lot owner I had talked with the sheriffs dept he had a SMALL attitude change and allowed me to get a few things but not all. made me wonder what this bozo was up to.

There are some pretty shifty tow companies in operation in parts of Michigan, towing cars improperly and then demanding exorbitant fees before releasing them to the owners.

Sometimes contacting the media works when contacting the police doesn't. Any public spotlight put on a badly-behaving company can make the company more cooperative (at least in the short term).

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

There are other not so shifty tow companies, that store vehicles for a specific rate in addition to their tow fees. They realize they are not always going to get their money out of the car, so the things in it help defray the lost revenue.

 

[quincy]

There are other not so shifty tow companies, that store vehicles for a specific rate in addition to their tow fees. They realize they are not always going to get their money out of the car, so the things in it help defray the lost revenue.

Certainly.

Michigan has had several well-publicized cases involving tow companies, though, which prompted my post.

 

[CdwJava]

I friend of mine got a dui and his vehicle was impounded. he is still incarcerated and at this point the fee's are more than the car is worth. he gave me written permission to get his personal property out when I went to the lot they refused anything but title registration etc but no personal property!! how do I get the personal property with out paying the huge fee's incurred and is this even legal for them to do this seems pretty crappy on there part

What state was this in?

Laws as to who and under what conditions you might retrieve property can vary.

And, what is the nature of this "personal property?" Is it in any way attached to the vehicle?

 

[quincy]

Carl, the title of the thread has a clue to the state.

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, the title of the thread has a clue to the state.

Oh ... heh ... so, who reads the TITLE!?