ErinGoBragh
Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
Here's the short of it: I live in a 2 family with on-street parking. Most of the neighbors also have on-street parking, which is city parking. I dug out a spot after the snowstorm, and someone came along and took my spot. Whatever, it happens all the time, so I just parked around the block, which is a wider street and had been plowed. There's no snow emergency, no signs saying I can't park there, no driveway I was blocking, and no signs that indicate it's private parking- because it's not.
Neighbor calls the city police and has my car towed because it's in "her" spot in front of her house. She pays for the towing, but because I don't figure this out until the day after (I was sick, although it really shouldn't matter), I end up paying storage fees of $80 to get my car out of tow. Needless to say, I'm pretty angry. I called the city police to see what had happened to my car, and they said they towed it because "That's the way parking in x city works, everyone knows that." I asked them if what I did was against the law, they said no.
There are frequently times when I have to park in front of other people's homes. There are around 3 spots in front of my house for 5 cars- with absolutely no room on the property for offstreet parking. Is there anything I can do to prevent the police department from towing my car at the will of a neighbor? Go before city council or something? I get that people are possessive of their spots, but I'm not doing anything illegal here, and frankly, I think this is really petty and ridiculous, and it's money I can ill afford to be spending.
Here's the short of it: I live in a 2 family with on-street parking. Most of the neighbors also have on-street parking, which is city parking. I dug out a spot after the snowstorm, and someone came along and took my spot. Whatever, it happens all the time, so I just parked around the block, which is a wider street and had been plowed. There's no snow emergency, no signs saying I can't park there, no driveway I was blocking, and no signs that indicate it's private parking- because it's not.
Neighbor calls the city police and has my car towed because it's in "her" spot in front of her house. She pays for the towing, but because I don't figure this out until the day after (I was sick, although it really shouldn't matter), I end up paying storage fees of $80 to get my car out of tow. Needless to say, I'm pretty angry. I called the city police to see what had happened to my car, and they said they towed it because "That's the way parking in x city works, everyone knows that." I asked them if what I did was against the law, they said no.
There are frequently times when I have to park in front of other people's homes. There are around 3 spots in front of my house for 5 cars- with absolutely no room on the property for offstreet parking. Is there anything I can do to prevent the police department from towing my car at the will of a neighbor? Go before city council or something? I get that people are possessive of their spots, but I'm not doing anything illegal here, and frankly, I think this is really petty and ridiculous, and it's money I can ill afford to be spending.
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