NYC Parking Tickets Trigger Tow Truck Operators Predatory Practices

Last Updated on October 28, 2024 by Lawrence Berezin

Hello Everyone,

I do apologize for not posting recently, but I came across another great article in the Riverdale Press from November 2008. It involves Predatory Towing in the City Of New York.

It gives you the motorist and taxpayer some very valuable information, so you will be able to report these thugs and thieves that prey on your lack of knowledge. It also lets you turn the tables, and place them on the defense.

I give you fair warning when shopping in New York City, especially the surrounding boroughs, you will run into this dirty trick. The situation usually starts when you park in one of those strip malls or a fast-food restaurant like McDonald’s with their own parking lots. Let’s say you get your food or whatever you needed from the store in that lot. You think I’ll just run across the street and pick up a little knick knack. What you don’t know is a towing company has a person sitting in a car with binoculars spying on the parking lot. As soon as you take one step out of that lot, the spotter calls the tow truck that is parked just around the corner. Next thing you know, your car is hooked up to a tow truck and being brought to who knows where? The only way to find out where and how to get your car back is going to cost you. I have seen prices from 150 to 300 per tow. It’s a scam. I understand the property owner’s dilemma, but this is wrong.

I hope this does not happen to you, and this article will help you if it does. It outlines the law and your legal rights to due process. It also explains what happens if they do not comply with the law.

So your best defense is to be very mindful of these traps and don’t  give into the temptation to run across the street for anything, it can and will cost you. So, do yourself a favor and please prevent it from happening in the first place, but if you do find your car hooked up to a tow truck, remember this article it can save you a lot of headache and money.

This is Martin Von Buller signing out…

Important Points From Megan James, the author:

1. “According to New York City Administrative Code, tow operators cannot remove vehicles without written authorization from the property owner for each vehicle towed. That authorization must include the location, make, model, color and license plate number of each vehicle the company tows.”

2. “Additionally, if the owner of a car about to be towed arrives at the scene before the tow truck has taken it away, the tow company is obligated to disconnect the car and let the owner remove it from the premises, charging a service fee of no more than half the regular towing charge.”

3. “Property owners are required to post a sign with the name, address and telephone number of the tow operator, the hours of operation for vehicle redemption and towing and storage fees, and the tow company must call the local precinct within 30 minutes of the vehicle’s arrival at a storage facility.”

4. “According to the city Department of Consumer Affairs, if a vehicle is removed from private property in violation of this section of the code, there is no charge to the owner of the vehicle and the violator is liable for all costs of removal and storage or any damage resulting from the tow.”

Enjoy the article…

The Riverdale Press

Towed from that lot? Law may be on your side

By Megan James Throughout the summer and early fall, plenty of area residents learned the hard way not to park in the Key Food lot, on Johnson Avenue, or the Staples lot, on Broadway, unless they planned to shop exclusively in the stores in those centers.

But many are still making the mistake: running across the street to an ATM or to pick something up at another store, only to return minutes later to find their vehicles have been towed. At a recent Community Board 8 traffic and transportation committee meeting, Saul Scheinbach presented a new defense for drivers frustrated by the tow trucks’ quick hook at area lots.

“People aren’t aware that the law is on their side,” he said.

According to New York City Administrative Code, tow operators cannot remove vehicles without written authorization from the property owner for each vehicle towed. That authorization must include the location, make, model, color and license plate number of each vehicle the company tows.

Jay Holtz, the manager at Dyckman Realty, the company that manages the Key Food lot, could not confirm whether the owner of that property has given written permission every time Riverdale Towing & Collision removes a vehicle.

Additionally, if the owner of a car about to be towed arrives at the scene before the tow truck has taken it away, the tow company is obligated to disconnect the car and let the owner remove it from the premises, charging a service fee of no more than half the regular towing charge.

“If you see them towing your car and you call them over, they have to stop,” Mr. Scheinbach said. “I’ve seen people screaming at the tow truck driver and they just drive away.”

Property owners are required to post a sign with the name, address and telephone number of the tow operator, the hours of operation for vehicle redemption and towing and storage fees, and the tow company must call the local precinct within 30 minutes of the vehicle’s arrival at a storage facility.

According to the city Department of Consumer Affairs, if a vehicle is removed from private property in violation of this section of the code, there is no charge to the owner of the vehicle and the violator is liable for all costs of removal and storage or any damage resulting from the tow.

“While the law does not specifically say if it is the tow company or the landlord that is liable, it is the tow company that must obtain written authorization to tow the vehicle,” said the department’s spokeswoman, Beth Miller. “If the tow company does not obtain the proper written authorization, they are in violation of the law.”