DxC

so if you have had your car in boston for a little while, you know how messed up parking is.

im specifically talking about private parking lots, not street parking.

When I go out in Boston, I always leave my car at a friends house, get trashed and crash somewhere. The house is split into 2 apartments and they share the lot (no assigned spaces).

I left my car at my friends lot as usual.. Turns out the next morning, my car is towed. Im pretty puzzled because there is no active tow patrolling of this lot, so someone mustve called it in. I called the landlord, and he mentioned he did not authorize or call in any tow.

I go to get my car back, and of course the tow people are the lowlives you usually find in the tow world ... nothing new. I ask them who authorized the tow? They said, only the landlord is allowed to, and that it was the landlord. I know this isn't true since I just spoke with the landlord. After some deeper digging, I find out it was someone in the other apartment that called it in - WTF?

So basically, I am just wondering who to go after in small claims court.

Do I go after the person in the other apartment for calling in a wrongful tow?

Or do I go after the tow company for accepting the tow without getting appropriate authorization from the landlord ...

Or both?

I am SICK of this ****, and I am not going to take it this time. Losing the $110 sucks, but obv there is a much bigger issue than $110

thanks for your help, and any advice

random tidbit: can you imagine how profitable the tow business is in boston?! $110 per tow, plus $20 a day storage ... essentially all profit

mscav

Since apparently the towing company doesn't check if you're the landlord...

JimmyC83

go after it and see what you can do. just be polite to the landlord (first) and see if you can just get a check cut to you in your name.

DxC

i am thinking if i should confront the dude, or just let him find out he is being taken to small claims


but there is something VERY wrong about anyone being able to call in a tow. i could just call in every car i see to get towed, just as a prank ...

DxC

it surely is testing my will, especially when dealing with these tow people.

the landlord knew nothing about the tow and is on my side, very willing to help me out.

i dont even understand why the neighbor would call in the tow? did he feel that was his "spot"? ... this whole ordeal is strange.

if i wasnt supposed to park there and i got towed, it sucks, but thats the way it goes. this situation shouldve never happened

JimmyC83

Shouldn't it be their responsibility to acknowledge the towing agencies to say "hey, only authorize my name to tow cars out of this lot"? I dunno liability and laws pertaining to landlord req'ments but i'm sure you can string the word "small claims" along in a conversation as a pre-cursor to what they COULD avoid =0

but it really sucks that the landlord is a nice person and all too =(

Boston Driver

...that will make it stop.

tdn

You can only go after the caller if they acted as the landlord.

A while back towing companies in my area acted on any call by anyone. You could have called in from California, told them someone parked in your random spot number and that car would have been towed. Now it's almost a pain in the *** to get a car towed thats in ones spot.

If you really want to pursue this, I'd go after the towing company first. Once you tell your story (with the landlord signing an affidavit or appearing with you - saying that he didn't call), the towing company is then responsible for proving they aren't to blame/the caller lied. If they can't prove that, you should win. If they can prove it, use that proof to go after the caller.

Keep in mind court fees/costs, especially if you lose the first one - can be more than what you'll get out of pursuing it.

Maybe the towing company has evidence the caller acted as the landlord, like a recording of the conversation. That would save you some time and maybe money.


Note: I am NOT a lawyer and I am not qualified to give you legal advice.

tdn

I know it's probably more than likely, but I don't think it's that easy.

FinallyS5

Were you authorized to park in the lot? The tenants spend a big chunk of $$$ paying for their spots so if you were using one of theirs and they couldn't park I can't feel any sympathy for you in this situation.

Secondly, yes, towing is probably pretty profitable but I believe they pay the city a pretty penny for the authority to do it.