AboutRichard Expertise Professional towing and recovery operator for 29 Plus years, dealing with light to heavy duty towing operations... Nationally certified by various agencies - associations..
I know that many people do not understand vehicle towing when ordered by Law Enforcement or from Private Property Parking lots, which I will try to help with. BUT, I am not versed in RV TOWING ISSUES, or actual law cases or proposed cases...
Experience I have 29+ years of towing experience dealing with everything from Light duty ( cars and pickups ) to tractor trailer rigs, motor homes and buses.. Motor clubs to police calls, lockouts to jumpstarts and tows. I have experienced alot of fun times doing my job. Some have been good experiences and some of have been heart wrenching experiences.
Organizations Been affiliated with TRAA(towing and recovery association of america), Oregon Tow Truck Association, Washington Tow Truck Association, Wyoming Tow Truck Association , and Alabama Tow Truck Association
Publications Tow Times Magazine
American Towman
STA Phantom Towing News
Towing and Recovery Phootnotes
Education/Credentials TRAA Heavy duty Trained operator 1987
TRAA Management Classes 1986
Wreckmaster training programs (since 1992)
Several other training programs (to many to list )
Expert: Richard Date: 6/20/2008 Subject: illegal rv tow
Question Mesa, arizona. I parked my rv(ok with owner)in the apt parking lot the first night i moved into my apt.The next morning it was gone.Tow company said tags were bad-but there was a tempoary tag in back window.We were supposed to have sticker to park,but owner didn`t tell us this yet.The owner did not call them,and when he found out in the morning he called the company to release vehicle which they took a chunk out of the side of.Later i recieved a $300.00 collection notice. Is this legal?
Answer Well I wish I could find the link I had for a law in Arizona (not sure if it was a State Law or a City law) which allowed for people to get their vehicle back without paying but accepting a bill later from the tow company (darn computer failure did cause me to lose lots of links) and I can not find that link right now online. I seem to remember I had it from an news story to start with.
Now it sounds as if the tow company patrols the apartment parking lot looking for permits, and of course the "bad tags" is always a great excuse it seems...
(side note, temporary tags in vehicles with tinted windows are real hard to look at especially at night, and that is from "PERSONAL EXPERIENCE" while doing patrol towing)
Now I am confused on the release of the vehicle as you say the Manager - owner of the apartments called and they let the vehicle go... That seems to be great...
"took a chunk out of the side" makes me think they might of damaged the motor home.. But it could be something different.. I do not know.
I would contact the tow company or the collection agency about this issue and make sure you have "written documentation" from the apartment owner about the whole issue. After all if it was an "illegal tow" and they did make the mistake, they can still do the collections and the court things, but chances are that they would lose and this might just be a bluff to get paid anyway... That or it might just of been an over site and the bill got sent when it should not be.
Be nice, talk to everyone involved and such, but remember one thing. Even though it was "towed illegally" the tow company still has expenses which they "would like" to recover...
