Towing Company Charging to Get Possessions Out of Wrecked Car

[lal3208]

i live in CA and my dad recently wrecked his car.
the tow company is charging him $600 to release the car and he doesn't have the money to pay it. the problem is that the tow company wont let him get some possessions of mine out of the car with out him paying the fee.

my question is it legal for them to hold my possessions that i payed for and have proof of purchase because my dad cant pay the fee?

[aaron]

I don't see a California statute that, in the context of a towing other than a repossession, permits you to recover personal property. (I'm not ruling out the possibility that I overlooked such a statute.) What may help you out, assuming nobody else can find such a statute, is a local ordinance - but you either need to look those up yourself or tell us what unit of government has jurisdiction over the towing yard.

[ledfoot02]

Well I don't know about out there ,But here In PA the only thing that the towing company has to give to you is prescription drug and the towing company has to get them for 4 you, as I operate a towing company in PA

the reason is if you take all your stuff the towing company is stuck with the car as if you only have liability on you car, this is what happens nexted so than the towing company has to take you to court,than fills out a form to the DMV for a abanded vehicle title and this cost the towing company money,I'm going throught this right know a guy had a accident with his car and his cell phone was in the car he called and wants it back I told him $250.00 and he could have his phone he never came for the phone which tells me the I'm going to get stuck with the car


Eddie

[cdwjava]

Absent some mysterious code that I am unaware of, it is generally unlawful in CA to prohibit someone from receiving their own personal property.

Now, I know of tow companies that might charge a small fee to allow the person into the yard - accompanied by an employee - to retrieve personal items from the vehicle, but have yet to come across one that refuses outright.

You might consider contacting the local police and asking them if they could accompany the owner of the vehicle to get his property.

Now, if your father is NOT the owner of the vehicle (registered owner, that is), then that would explain why they are not permitting him to access the vehicle.

- Carl