I have been often told that I march to my own drummer. This blog is dedicated to my own little take on the world. Enjoy!

Friday, January 26, 2007

Tow-Stapo




A couple of nights some friends and I went to a restaurant on Morris Street in Morristown and all parked in the Morris shopping plaza. We found out later that parking there was not allowed by the owner of the property and that there were in fact signs that stated this and warned of tow. (Although signs are scarce and not well lit at night) Upon learning from our waitress that they were towing cars across the street we bolted out the door. I arrived in time to rescue the Maxima, however our friend was not so lucky. She was approaching her car and offering to move it when they "hooked" her car. They demanded $200 under threat of tow. I called the police who stated that it was a civil matter and that they had no ability to interfere. The cop was down right nasty and unprofessional. He appeared to know the tow truck driver and arbitrarily decided he was correct without hearing what I had to say.(This is a separate issue I am taking up with his unit commander) ultimately she reluctantly paid the $200 to G&A Towing service. I found this to be ridiculous and contacted the State of New Jerseys Attorney General Department of Consumer Affairs.

This is what the great State of New Jersey’s Attorney General’s office had to say: Apparently although "crazy" (according to Robert Camponelli in the states attorney generals office) there is no current law that prohibits private towing companies from demanding money from citizens under coercion. I believe his exact words were that "the states attorney generals office has no jurisdiction over private property in these matters." According to the current legislation there IS a law that speaks to "reasonable and customary charges" for towing. Mr. Camponelli (973-504-6313) states that $200 is within the normal range of what he generally sees (approximately 4 complaints a week on the same issue) I argued that the car was NOT towed and that as such the threat of tow unless payment is made constitutes extortion which should fall under the jurisdiction of the States Attorney Generals office. According to Mr. Camponelli they are "aware of the problem" and there is currently a draft of legislation (although he could not supply me with a bill # or the sponsoring legislator) to address this very concern. This led me to contact state senator Anthony R. Bucco's office who directed me to proposed bill # S952. This bill outlines what I believe is a proposal to have set fees and rates for certain towing services and is sponsored by Nia H. Gill. It however does not address the conduct or rules and regulations regarding tow operators or the availability of rates upon request or posted rates for tow on private property. Apparently Mr. Camponelli's "double secret legislation" was nothing more than a fabrication to brush me off. In my opinion Mr. Camponelli is a big fucking L I A R.

This practice of "hooking" and demanding monies under threat of tow without check and balance under protection of law creates a situation where private property owners and operators can levy fines and essentially tax the general public. They enter into deals with the towing companies to share revenue from the tow of your vehicle. There is no doubt that they are making a fortune off of this. This particular tow driver even stated that "the property owner specifically said that they did not want to post signs at every parking space." (Presumably to make more money) More concerning than this is the fact that under current law they do not have to state what the towing rates are on signage or supply a schedule of rates to the towed upon request. Essentially if they had demanded $500 she would have no way to know if this was proper or legal. This is absolutely absurd.

I am currently drafting a petition to submit to the New Jersey State legislature. Its purpose is to encourage the drafting of legislation to regulate the removal of vehicles from private property by private or public towing contractors. This petition does not challenge the rights of private property owners to impose rules regarding parking on their property. This petition speaks to the manner and degree to which those rules shall be enforced under the rule of law. Once the petition is drafted I will be setting up a website where people will be able to add their name electronically. Hopefully together we can stop this ridiculous practice.

10 Comments:

Blogger Mr. A said...

Good luck with all of that.

And for anyone keeping score at home...

A.S.S.' car WAS NOT towed or hooked that night.

9:24 AM

 
Blogger No1ofConsequence said...

It's not the point. It is the principal. :-)

Or, as it was described to me, he needed a hobby.

11:33 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A.S.S., I've heard about the same thing happening numerous times in Hoboken and Jersey City. Essentially anywhere where parking spots are few and far between.

From what I understand, the fast-food restaurants don't hire guys to tow cars; they don't have to. The tow truck companies pay the restaurants for the right to tow in their lots, because it is such a lucrative racket. Essentially, they are paying the restaurant for a hunting license. Since it is private property, the police don't get involved.

Then they give some homeless guy a cell phone and tell him to call the tow truck if they see someone parking in the lot and then not going into the restaurant.

The tow truck company then shows up and, believe me, they would much rather have you pay $200 for them not to tow you. But you'd have to be crazy (or broke) to say "Go ahead, tow me," because they'll hit you with the towing fee, storage fee, whatever other kind of fee they can think of, plus all the hassle of going to get your car.

Again, the police don't get involved, because you are on private property.

I'm looking forward to your proposed solution...

7:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Had the same exact experience recently in Montclair- dined at a restaurant and parked in a minimally signed parking lot of a bank that was closed for the day- and the tow bill was $400 . Outrageous. Good luck with the legislation because it is definitely a total scam. I intend to look int the "reasonable and customary guidelines/regulations(?) you made reference about.

Feeling_Totally_Scammed

8:44 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BLAME THE TOW COMPANY! PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR PARKING. SO THEY GET CAUGHT AND HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE. OH WELL PARK WHERE YOU SHOULD AND NOT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY! YOU DID WRONG GROW UP AND TAKE THE FINE. IF YOU OWNED THE BUILDING AND PEOPLE WHERE TAKING YOUR PARKING SPOTS I'M SURE YOU WOULD JUST BE FINR WITH THAT.....NOT!!!!! YOUR ONLY LOOKING AT YOUR POINT THE THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY!!!!! I'M SURE IF IT ONLY HAPPENED A FEWTIMES THEY WOULDN'T MIND BUT IT A PROBLEM FOR THE PAYING CUSTOMERS THAT CAN'T FIT IN THE LOT... THINK ABOUT IT YOU NEVER HAD A CAR PARK IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE AND GET MAD THAT PARKED IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE AND YOU COULDN'T... AND LOOK THAT ISN'T EVEN YOUR PROPERTY.... SO YOU SHOULD JUST THINK OF THE PERSON'S PROPERTY YOU ARE PARKING ON AND STOP BEING SO SELFISH.... AND IF YOU THINK I'M CRAZY, WHAT'S YOUR ADDRESS I'LL COME PARK IN YOUR DRIVEWAY AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT....HMMMMMMM WONDER WHAT YOU WOULD DO.... OHHHHHHHH IT'S OK HE CAN PARK HERE ANYTIME.......NOT

11:04 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Above poster...take your meds.

The towing business is getting shadier by the day. Anywhere where there is a parking problem, they are there like leeches, charging ridiculous fees, and often times taking only cash. In that case, report them to the IRS.

3:57 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it has happened to me recently in jersey city's BJs and shoprite's parking lot. i parked and left for an adjacent mall for a few minutes before shopping at BJs. there was a lot of space for parking and i was spotted leaving the compound and boom, my car was towed and had to pay a lot to recover it. this definitely a lesson learned for me. i immediately searched the internet for similar cases and found out of such notorious scam that has been happening everywhere for so many years (check jclist.com also). it has been claimed that signs are everywhere. yup they are, but strategically located not visible to their prey. when my car was missing, i approached the jersey city police who were in the area and asked for help. they themselves could not careless. i complained to BJs as a customer with the same result. i noticed also that the fence has been left opened leading to the adjacent mall to lure their many victims for easy money. what has happened to our society? why is the government tolerating this scam?

7:19 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is great info to know.

5:02 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I almost got towed tonight, becuz some jackass decided to get a hard on of testosterone to have my car towed after allowing me to sit there all day even when he was not there all day to use it... and then come 5 pm i caught the tow truck just in time, the tow truck actually left and i saved my car, meanwhile, this creep of a guy, decided to pull his car behind me, not allowing me to leave and continue to yell and scream at me ( mind you it's 5 pm and very dark and in a secluded area of where i work and i am female) demanded that i should pay for the tow truck that just drove off. I just locked my doors and kept my windows rolled up while he parked his car behind mine with his window down yelling at me, as i reeved up my engine to "smoke" him out of my way with my exhaust, he did eventually move and i was finally allowed to drive home peacefully, shaken but not stirred...lol

The thing of it is, the "personal" parking places of these personal businesses are not marked and if so i do not see any sign, ( i believe that they are shared parking for all the small businesses within that complex and i am an employee there), just some people that tend to " adopt" the spot, kinda like dads favorite chair in the household. is prolly why the tow truck driver just left after he saw me just get into my car as it wasn't "hooked" or nothing. i got home and thought perhaps i should look up stuff about this to see if at any , if i had any rights, apparently not, if there's a petition to be signed, though i do not live in jersey, i live in nevada state, i would gladly electronically sign it so that this epidemic can be put on a leash, it's crazy, and no i wouldnt want someone to park in my own driveway, but i would also have it clearly marked so that wouldnt happen, likewise for my place of business, it's not good business practices if you piss off all your customers just to gain a few bucks in partnership with rogue tow truck drivers as i drive my own business into the ground? i might as well own a towing company...

anyways, what comes goes around comes around and i will kindly warn that guy if he wants to approch a women in asedluded parking area in the dark, as i call the cops on him for stalking me, which is illegal in nevada...lol

have a great night to all , thanks for the info

7:48 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Check the ordinances of your town. Jersey city states § 319-14. Inspections; unlawful acts.
J. No operator of a tower shall solicit, demand or receive from any person any pay, commission or emolument whatever, except the proper fee for towing and storage of the vehicle in accordance with the schedule of maximum charges provided herein.

If they haven't hooked up the vehicle yet, just get in it. § 319-11. Schedule of maximum prices; disclosure.(4) The above fees are chargeable once a vehicle is hooked-up by the tower.

Other info such as fees can be seen as well, private towing in J.C. is the same set fees as non-private, etc.

http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/codes/jersey/

3:58 PM

 

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