Towed in 45 minutes from a visitor's spot (WA)

A few hours ago, my son, who was driving my car, visited a friend at his condo in Bothell. He parked in a parking spot clearly marked "VISITOR" and was inside for about 45 minutes. When he came back out, the car had been towed by management.

There were posted tow company signs in the parking lot, but no signs indicating any rules regarding visitor parking. According to his friend, property management requires visitors to display a placard in their vehicle when parking in a visitor spot. I'm not certain that my son was aware of this at the time, and in any case, could only have been aware of this regulation had his friend informed him of the fact.

While RCW 46.55 (Chapter 46.55 RCW: Towing and impoundment) does not specifically address visitor parking, it seems to me that a visitor could not be expected to know this regulation unless it could be established that he had been previously informed. Since there is no way for management to know whether the driver of a random vehicle is aware of their regulations, I think they have, by towing the car, violated the spirit of the law if not the letter (given that this circumstance represents a gray area in the law).

I've been looking for case precedent related to this, but haven't found any yet. Has anyone heard of this happening in Washington, and if so, do you have any insight into the legality of the impound?

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to offer.

What the management will argue, and will likely be supported, is that the resident (the person your son was visiting) should have informed the visitor (your son) that he needed a placard. Sucks to have crappy friends, eh?

Thanks for the reply, Occultist.

I spoke with the property manager this morning, and that is exactly what she said. The way the law is wrtten in Washington state, I doubt if I have a claim, particularly as the complex does in fact have a sign posted stating that parking is by permit only (I verified that in person this morning).

However, I am going to contest the action in court, as I think the circumstances under which they towed the car were not prudent:

1. The single sign that mentions permit-only parking is not near the visitor parking area.
2. The sign does not specify that it applies to visitors.
3. The time elapsed between my son's arrival and the call to the towing company was less than 10 minutes, which does not provide a reasonable amount of time for the driver to park, enter the residence, be informed of parking regulations, acquire a permit, and place it in the vehicle.
4. There was no attempt to notify the driver that he was in violation of parking regulations, not even a note left on the car.
5. Their actions assume that all visitors notice the one sign near the entrance, that they correctly interpret the sign as applying to them, and that a permit will be made available to them within a few minutes of their arrival.

I'll post the results here afterwards for the benefit of others who may run into the same issue.

therealviceman said:

However, I am going to contest the action in court, as I think the circumstances under which they towed the car were not prudent:

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Is that a requirement under the law?

1. The single sign that mentions permit-only parking is not near the visitor parking area.

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Is that a requirement under the law?

2. The sign does not specify that it applies to visitors.

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It applies to everybody...visitors are a subset of "everybody"

3. The time elapsed between my son's arrival and the call to the towing company was less than 10 minutes, which does not provide a reasonable amount of time for the driver to park, enter the residence, be informed of parking regulations, acquire a permit, and place it in the vehicle.

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Sure it does

4. There was no attempt to notify the driver that he was in violation of parking regulations, not even a note left on the car.

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Is that a requirement under the law?

5. Their actions assume that all visitors notice the one sign near the entrance, that they correctly interpret the sign as applying to them, and that a permit will be made available to them within a few minutes of their arrival.

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Yes - exactly. It assumes that people are aware of their surroundings and the requirements for parking. It's really not that hard.

Me too

I just had a similar situation occur about 30 minutes from your location! I live in Monroe, WA in a condo and my girlfriend was visiting. She was told by management a few weeks ago that she cannot park in the visitor parking for "more than 48 hours" and the signs and posted policy state "48 hour visitor parking". She would park on the street (elsewhere off property) and then every once in a while she would park in the visitor spot taking care to NOT park more than 24 hours. Well she went to school at UW bothell yesterday morning, came back at 6pm, parked in the visitor spot and was towed at 12 midnight.

We have a receipt for her student parking at the UW university that is timed and dated to prove she was not in the condo spot for more than 6 hours. I plan on taking this to court. Do I have a case or am I wasting my time?

Sounds like a pretty good racket. I wonder if it was the same towing co.

Sky valley towing, but its not their fault, the management of the condo authorized the removal of the vehicle. The towing company just did their job. I guess?

Another interesting factor in my case. The property manager I spoke with mentioned that nobody at their office called the tow truck - they apparently make regular runs through their parking lot looking for violators. After doing some research today, I discovered that this is called "patrol towing" and is illegal in Washington.

RCW 46.55.080 states:

(2) The person requesting a private impound or a law enforcement officer or public official requesting a public impound shall provide a signed authorization for the impound at the time and place of the impound to the registered tow truck operator before the operator may proceed with the impound. A registered tow truck operator, employee, or his or her agent may not serve as an agent of a property owner for the purposes of signing an impound authorization or, independent of the property owner, identify a vehicle for impound.


Towedandmad, it's possible that this is what happened to you as well. Evidently, it is a common practice even though it is illegal, and several towing companies have had their licenses revoked for violating it over the last decade.

edit: never mind, just read your last post.

therealviceman said:

Another interesting factor in my case. The property manager I spoke with mentioned that nobody at their office called the tow truck - they apparently make regular runs through their parking lot looking for violators. After doing some research today, I discovered that this is called "patrol towing" and is illegal in Washington.

RCW 46.55.080 states:

(2) The person requesting a private impound or a law enforcement officer or public official requesting a public impound shall provide a signed authorization for the impound at the time and place of the impound to the registered tow truck operator before the operator may proceed with the impound. A registered tow truck operator, employee, or his or her agent may not serve as an agent of a property owner for the purposes of signing an impound authorization or, independent of the property owner, identify a vehicle for impound.


Towedandmad, it's possible that this is what happened to you as well. Evidently, it is a common practice even though it is illegal, and several towing companies have had their licenses revoked for violating it over the last decade.

edit: never mind, just read your last post.

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The law you state is the anti-predatory towing law. If the towing company cannot provide a sign authorization, you have an excellent chance of winning in court. Been there, done that.