Patrol Towing Laws in Private Lots - Pittsburgh

[graybee03]

What is the name of your state? PA

My car was towed last night from a private lot (back gravel alleyway in Oakland). I parked in my friend's parking spot with his permission (he was even with me in my car). Due to Thanksgiving Break at Pitt, there was not a single other car in our lot, any of the neighboring lots, or anywhere else in this alley.

I am just looking for some straight answers on the law and if I have any rights here. My only wrong was that I did not have my friend's little parking tag hanging from my mirror. What laws does this region have for "patrol towing." Everything I find online for other areas seems to state that other the owner of the spot or the landlord needed to complain and come out and sign consent for my vehicle's tow. And I find it hard to believe that either of those happened. Overall, "patrol towing" seems to be illegal in many regions...what about in PA?

I have used my friend's spot on weekends for the past four years and last night the lot was completely empty. I understand the landlord probably had an agreement with the tow truck company to tow illegally parked cars. That is all well and good...except that parking in my friend's purchased spot, with his consent, in an otherwise vacant parking lot should not be deemed illegal. Do I have any recourse for this predatory towing practice?

 

[efflandt]

That lot apparently requires a mirror tag, and your lack of one may not have been noticed in a crowd.

But in an otherwise empty lot, yours was the first and only one to check, and without a tag, the owner or their agent would have no way of knowing you were authorized by anyone. The landlord likely already had an agreement with the towing company to tow unauthorized vehicles, to avoid inconveniencing people who paid for the slots (why should they have to call someone and wait around for a tow truck?).

 

[CourtClerk]

In my apartment complex, we have assigned parking. We don't have tags, but we do have stickers that are placed on either the back window or windshield. We also know that the building management has gone into an agreement with a local tow company to come into the complex and at their leisure tow any car that does not have either a regular sticker on the window or a temporary parking permit issued by the management office. Your friend cannot give you permission to park in a stall that doesn't belong to him... it belongs to the building. He rents it for his vehicle and i'm sure somewhere in a lease or other communication, they've already stated that parking is for the residents with the parking tags. If the parking tags weren't necessary, then they wouldn't give them out, then ANYONE could park there. I know it makes it difficult to park (hey, I live in an area where trying to find street parking is near impossible sometimes), however, the building has rules and that's it. Suck it up and next time, if the tag is easily removable (he's lucky, ours are not), then borrow his. With ours, if you peel it off your window, you can't put it back decently... at all.

 

[graybee03]

All,

I completely understand that it all comes down to the fact that I didn't have his tag hanging from my mirror. Regardless of my ensuing anger about the unfairness of this situation...is this "patrol towing" allowed?

I found this link from United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit San Diego vs Tillison: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/coa/newopinions.nsf/C8C11F773340A91A88256FFC0057DC1A/$file/0355939.pdf?openelement

It says that written permission must be obtained to tow a car (possibly covered by a blanket contract? But many sites say those blanket contracts were voided by the deregulation of the towing industry in 1994). It also says that "the property owner or agent must be present for the tow." In my opinion, these two points make his predatory practice illegal. I am just afraid that there are no laws written to back this court decision...and therefore I have nothing to stand on.


As an aside:
I completely agree that if I was in someone else's space or I was blocking a right-of-way...my car should be towed. But the way this happened and the way the towing company treated me was absolutely deplorable and I can't forget about it until I at least attempt to find some way rectify this situation.

 

[CourtClerk]

Who's to say they don't have a contract with the tow company? And I assure you that in many circumstances, you can find a very poorly written contract that can be disputed, however, you can also find a very well written one that can't.

The way to rectify it is to have your buddy split the tow charges. I assure you, he was probably told about the parking policy.

 

[The Occultist]

San Diego vs Tillison

Unless that's San Diego, Pennsylvania rolleyes that case means absolutely nothing to your situation. The reason why we require you to include the name of your state is because different states have different laws, and PA is really going to be unlikely to give a moment's thought to case law from CA.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Unless that's San Diego, Pennsylvania rolleyes that case means absolutely nothing to your situation. The reason why we require you to include the name of your state is because different states have different laws, and PA is really going to be unlikely to give a moment's thought to case law from CA.

Well, to be honest, no one listens to the 9th Circuit (even the 9th Circuit).