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"Unauthorized" vehicle (mine) towed without definition of "authorization"

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olo

Junior Member
"Unauthorized" vehicle (mine) towed without definition of "authorization"

What is the name of your state? IL

So I was running behind for jury duty 2 days ago and driving toward the train station as the train was arriving. The train station parking lot has maybe 20 spaces, meaning it's always full, meaning nobody can ever use it, so I pull into the Jewel parking lot across the street instead. There is an "unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owner's expense" sign. OK, I'm parking in a public parking lot made for people to park their cars. What could possibly be wrong with that? Well, I came back from the city to find my car stolen (later explained as "towed" while filing a stolen car report at the police station). There are, of course, problems with this.

The parking lot is park of a publicly open store (as the "Open to the Public!!" signs at the store's opening clearly indicated), however, when demanding my car back, one of the employees insists that it's a private lot. First off, every private lot or property I've ever seen or known of has been clearly marked as "private". No such markings were made here, yet they assume everybody to know a supplement to a public store is private? Second, an absolutely arbitrary word "unauthorized" is used, but not defined anywhere. The nearby library lot entry signs indicate "no train users allowed to park here" - there you go, a legitimate basis for towing (provided they can prove by multiple witness account that I was seen leaving the lot and boarding the train). The Jewel lot wasn't stated as private, and "unauthorized" was not defined. No implication of illegitimate purpose for parking, time limit... ANYTHING. Just an undefined word they can basically throw at anybody they don't want or don't like there.

I just got back from the jury duty where the lawyers spent an hour debating the meaning of the word "is"... this Jewel scam can't possibly stand to scrutiny, can it?
 


JETX

Senior Member
olo said:
So I was running behind for jury duty 2 days ago and driving toward the train station as the train was arriving.

Not relevant.... as you should have provided enough time to find a proper parking space or made alternate plans.

The train station parking lot has maybe 20 spaces, meaning it's always full, meaning nobody can ever use it
Further support for 'lack of planning'.

so I pull into the Jewel parking lot across the street instead. There is an "unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owner's expense" sign.
Seems pretty clear to me.

OK, I'm parking in a public parking lot made for people to park their cars. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Lots of things.... starting with it is NOT a public parking lot. It is PRIVATE property.... and the owner has the right to restrict parking on HIS property.

The parking lot is park of a publicly open store (as the "Open to the Public!!" signs at the store's opening clearly indicated), however, when demanding my car back, one of the employees insists that it's a private lot.
It is a PRIVATE parking lot!! And the OWNERS make it available to their CUSTOMERS. You weren't a customer. They exercised their right as shown on their sign (notice).

First off, every private lot or property I've ever seen or known of has been clearly marked as "private". No such markings were made here, yet they assume everybody to know a supplement to a public store is private?
Yep. What did you think their sign meant?? :D

Second, an absolutely arbitrary word "unauthorized" is used, but not defined anywhere.
Unauthorized is very simple. It means 'without authority'. You have NO authority to park your car on THEIR property.

The nearby library lot entry signs indicate "no train users allowed to park here" - there you go, a legitimate basis for towing (provided they can prove by multiple witness account that I was seen leaving the lot and boarding the train). The Jewel lot wasn't stated as private, and "unauthorized" was not defined. No implication of illegitimate purpose for parking, time limit... ANYTHING. Just an undefined word they can basically throw at anybody they don't want or don't like there.
Yep. You got it.

I just got back from the jury duty where the lawyers spent an hour debating the meaning of the word "is"... this Jewel scam can't possibly stand to scrutiny, can it?
Yep. Pay the towing and storage.... and don't park on someone elses property.
 

olo

Junior Member
Either that or he's a lawyer.

Though I can agree that some info in my post won't matter in a debate over specific legalities, I was merely giving additional context to the people whose mental capacity exceeds that of higher abstraction alone.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
olo said:
Either that or he's a lawyer.

Though I can agree that some info in my post won't matter in a debate over specific legalities, I was merely giving additional context to the people whose mental capacity exceeds that of higher abstraction alone.
I was talking to you. :rolleyes:
 
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