Storage Charges on a totaled car

[rsteino]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

Hi. My son totaled our car about a month ago. We only had liability insurance so we lose and have to regroup and save for another car. At the scene the police told us they had to wait to have the car towed since it had caught on fire. No mention was made of needing to contact the tow company or make arrangements to dispose of the car. Since we haven't had this type of situation before we figured the car would be disposed of and we might receive a bill for disposing of it. Now, five weeks after the accident, I receive an Abandoned Vehicle Letter from the state of Arizona telling me I need to contact the towing company regarding disposition of the vehicle. I call and guess what? I have $1100.00 in storage charges and counting! This is the first contact I have had since the accident. My question is: What are my rights or options here considering 1) I was never informed I would have to deal with the disposition on the vehicle and 2) the towing company made no effort to contact us regarding the storage charges that were accumulating? Thanks for any help.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

Hi. My son totaled our car about a month ago. We only had liability insurance so we lose and have to regroup and save for another car. At the scene the police told us they had to wait to have the car towed since it had caught on fire. No mention was made of needing to contact the tow company or make arrangements to dispose of the car. Since we haven't had this type of situation before we figured the car would be disposed of and we might receive a bill for disposing of it. Now, five weeks after the accident, I receive an Abandoned Vehicle Letter from the state of Arizona telling me I need to contact the towing company regarding disposition of the vehicle. I call and guess what? I have $1100.00 in storage charges and counting! This is the first contact I have had since the accident. My question is: What are my rights or options here considering 1) I was never informed I would have to deal with the disposition on the vehicle and 2) the towing company made no effort to contact us regarding the storage charges that were accumulating? Thanks for any help.

About all you can do it try to negotiate a lower fee. The tow company is not obliged to contact you. You know the car had been towed, so the obligation was on you to track it down.

The tow company probably has a contract with the police, and was told by the police to tow the vehicle. They do not provide this service for free. The deserve to be paid for their work.

 

[ecmst12]

Why DIDN'T you think you'd have to take care of the car? If the storage lot doesn't hear from you after 30 days, then they send out that letter. That is their legal obligation. YOU had a legal obligation to take responsibility for your vehicle (assuming it's your vehicle and not your son's, if it's his, then HE had the responsibility). They don't have to store your car for free. You could have gotten the towing information from the police at any time.

 

[rsteino]

Ok, so as far as the "advice" part of this forum all I've gotten is to try to negotiate the charges with the storage company-thank you for that. Is there anything else that anyone can suggest to help me lower the amount of storage fees? I get it that I should have contacted them before now. Is there anything else I can do now given my current situation?

 

[ecmst12]

Um....you could pray, if you're the praying type. Legally, they haven't done anything wrong so you are NOT in a position of strength here. If you sign over the title, they might cut you a break so they can sell the salvage.

 

[Poster1]

Ok, so as far as the "advice" part of this forum all I've gotten is to try to negotiate the charges with the storage company-thank you for that. Is there anything else that anyone can suggest to help me lower the amount of storage fees? I get it that I should have contacted them before now. Is there anything else I can do now given my current situation?

Your bargaining chip is that if you cannot pay the $1000 or so dollars, then the towing company does not get anything. They could pursue the amount owed legally but they would be turning over the debt to a collection company at a loss... and they still don't have any guarantees. Let them know that you simply don't have the money, you'd like to settle but you need them to lower the amount. If they won't just explain that unless they lower the amount you can't pay. They will then tell you that they will pursue it legally. You can point out that you understand... but they would probably incur an expense/loss in doing this, there is still not guarantee that they will get anything and if they'd lower their bill you'd pay that amount.

 

[ecmst12]

Yeah, that will get you somewhere They don't have to involve a collection agency, they can just sue, get a judgement, trash your credit, clean out your bank accounts, AND take the car.

 

[Poster1]

Yeah, that will get you somewhere They don't have to involve a collection agency, they can just sue, get a judgement, trash your credit, clean out your bank accounts, AND take the car.

It's not as simple as you make it sound. In order to file suit they have to properly serve the OP. This means that they have to pay a service or the police to personally deliver the Complaint. If they cannot find the OP, they could perform due diligence but they first need to attempt personal delivery and it's easy to appeal a due diligence service. No state allows someone to "clean our your bank accounts". Some states (not many) will allow the person with the judgement to obtain employment information from the debtor and wages to be garnished but this requires a Wit... more work and expense. In the real world towing companies neither have the expertise nor time to perform all of this work... if they did, they are not making money towing vehicles. It's cheaper and more efficient to sell the debt or pay a fee upon recovery.

 

[ecmst12]

More states allow bank account attachment then allow wage garnishment. And towing companies are very used to people not paying their debts, so most of them are QUITE familiar with small claims court procedures. Not all states require personal service for small claims court, in some you can serve by certified mail. Obviously they know where she lives. And whatever they have to pay a process server (if they do have to pay one) will just be added on to the judgement.

 

[Poster1]

More states allow bank account attachment then allow wage garnishment. And towing companies are very used to people not paying their debts, so most of them are QUITE familiar with small claims court procedures. Not all states require personal service for small claims court, in some you can serve by certified mail. Obviously they know where she lives. And whatever they have to pay a process server (if they do have to pay one) will just be added on to the judgement.

The towing company would need to obtain permission from the court to offer service via Certified Mail (more of their time). Even then, the letter needs to be signed for my the owner of the vehicle. I've sent many a Certified Mail and not had them signed for and accepted.

 

[ecmst12]

Certified letters are considered by the courts to be "delivered" a certain number of days after they are mailed, regardless of whether anyone signs for them or not. Refusing to sign or pick up the letter does not get you off the hook. That's why people USE certified mail - it's a legally recognized form of communication and covers the sender's butt in court.

 

[Zigner]

It's not as simple as you make it sound. In order to file suit they have to properly serve the OP. This means that they have to pay a service or the police to personally deliver the Complaint. If they cannot find the OP, they could perform due diligence but they first need to attempt personal delivery and it's easy to appeal a due diligence service. No state allows someone to "clean our your bank accounts". Some states (not many) will allow the person with the judgement to obtain employment information from the debtor and wages to be garnished but this requires a Wit... more work and expense. In the real world towing companies neither have the expertise nor time to perform all of this work... if they did, they are not making money towing vehicles. It's cheaper and more efficient to sell the debt or pay a fee upon recovery.

The court costs can be added to the amount collected.
The Tow Company can have his friend, brother-in-law, neighbor, whatever perform service upon the OP. OBVIOUSLY they know where the OP is (the OP got the letter, remember).

Poster1 - really. If you can't offer something evening RESEMBLING correct advice, then STOP POSTING.

 

[Labtec600]

And all the while the Tow company is doing all this work that is taking so much time, the OP's vehicle continues to sit and collect storage....

 

[rsteino]

Thanks for the actual advice, Poster1. I am in the process of contacting the manager at the storage facility with hopes of negotiating this down. I have been working the last year or so on settling my credit card debt so I am no stranger to ruined credit, that's not an issue. My primary concerns are 1) to stop the storage charges from accruing and 2) to get them to agree on less than $1100. I don't care about the car, it caught on fire and is totally destroyed-which is why I assumed (incorrectly) that it was going straight to the salvage yard. Maybe I can offer them the title and a lower amount of $$. I'll keep all posted on my progress as it seems there is no typical chain of events to expect as in credit card settlements.

 

[rsteino]

So here's the update...I settled with them for $500 and signing over the title to them. They were very easy to work with. It seems this is a fairly regular occurance as they got right back to me with a settlement offer. I figured this was fair, although I wish it were less. Thanks to all who chimed in on this one. Lesson learned....

Rick