pls advise... car towed in an apartment!illegally(i think)

[nooter]

What is the name of your state? CA

My brother's car was towed and here's the whole story...

My sisters moved into an apartment in rowland heights in california and we were helping them in moving there stuff... one sunday afternoon, me, my husband and my brother brought in the fridge, the sofa, etc in my brother's truck (a GMC truck). there was one parking space left near my sister's place. so we parked there coz it was the nearest to the apartment and it would be easier to carry the huge fridge.after moving all the stuff,we went down to check on the truck and it was gone! it was towed! (that fast)the towing company said (and they video taped it) that about a foot of the truck's tail is on the red paint(coz it was on a curve). we tried to explain but still, we ended up paying them $390. we complained on the managemnt of the aprtment but they said they have no control over the parking.
they did not even give us a warning.i believe the towing guy was keeping an eye on us while we were moving then they towed it when we were gone. we are aware that we cant park on the red zone...but the whole truck was not on the red zone!just a small portion of it.and we were planning to move truck to a better parking space but it was gone before we could even do that.
pls help.what should we do about this? can we contest this in court??

[kwest]

Anything can be contested in court - and maybe you will luck out that they would not show up - but in the red is in the red - whether completely in or partially. I am not so sure a judge will be sympathetic to only "partially" blocking a fire lane with a vehicle that was there long enough to unload a few large appliances / furniture and be towed.

Whether the tow truck was being predatory or whether someone called in a complaint is a moot point as in many municipalities, they have the right to tow when someone is illegally parked - warnings are not part of the program.

I think there is nothing else that you can do other than chalk it up to experience and be more careful next time. Or of course ask the sisters to pay the fine since this was to help them - they are not technically obligated assuming they were not the ones to park the truck, but if it was me - I would pay the fine of a family member that was doing me such a favor. (and no excuses they can't afford it - they can pay over time at $20 a month or in trade with dinners and BBQs)