Authorized and Legally Parked Vehicle Towed on College Campus with No Warning

[Ulrich_Stern]

My question involves civil rights in the State of: Texas

So here is the situation. Yesterday morning, my car, along with 13 others, was towed without warning from a campus parking lot that is now undergoing renovations. This parking lot is completely open to students and faculty 24/7, and is used everyday for parking for students that live in student apartments across the street.

Yesterday morning however, the campus launched a re-paving project in this parking lot and removed any vehicles by towing them to an adjacent lot roughly 150-300ft away, where most students couldn't even see their vehicles. There was no prior warning sent out, concerning the renovation of this parking lot, or any others, on any platform that students could access. No email, website postings, mail, or even posted signs. And then there was not any notice after the fact.

I only eventually found my vehicle by contacting campus police. I learned the identity from campus police and then contacted the campus employee that had authorized the removal of the vehicles, who claimed that "Ample Notice Had Been Sent Out Several Weeks In Advance" and that they had simply "Scooted the cars out of the way".

After all of this, I would simply like to know if there is any legal precedent allowing me to file charges against either the employee that authorized the removal, or the campus itself. If you could, I would also like you to link me to some penal codes or any Texas laws if they do so exist.

Thank You in advance and I wish you a wonderful day.

[free9man]

Was your car damaged in any way? You really aren't going to get anywhere trying to file criminal charges for this. Had you suffered damages, you might have tried a civil suit but even that isn't likely to have been successful.

You are free to file personnel complaints regarding how the situation was handled.

[cbg]

If I had a dollar for every time I've had an employee complain that the never received any notice of something, and I was able to pull out a copy of the notice (sometimes with their signature on it) I'd be able to retire a whole lot sooner.

[adjusterjack]

After all of this, I would simply like to know if there is any legal precedent allowing me to file charges against either the employee that authorized the removal, or the campus itself. If you could, I would also like you to link me to some penal codes or any Texas laws if they do so exist.

This is not something that is usually taught in college but you've just learned a very important lesson about life:

Sometimes bad or inconvenient things happen for which there is no recourse. You just suck it up, get over it, and get on with your life.

This is one of those times.

Happens to grown-ups all the time.

[paddywakk]

Any chance this college assigns email addresses to all students when they enroll?

If so, I'll bet dollars to donuts the notice was emailed. I just retired from a college where this is what would have happened, even though many students admitted they never read their college email.

[cdwjava]

If it is anything like the University where I work, email went out, there was postings up on the web site for the department and/or transportation and parking services, signs posted in and around the parking lot in question, and maybe even blasts on other social media sites as well - Facebook and Wildfire, to name just two.

Many of us tend to ignore such posts. But, sometimes, they might actually pertain to something we do ... like park our personal vehicle in a campus lot so we don't have to park in our residential complex.

[cbg]

If it is anything like the University where I work, email went out, there was postings up on the web site for the department and/or transportation and parking services, signs posted in and around the parking lot in question, and maybe even blasts on other social media sites as well - Facebook and Wildfire, to name just two.

Many of us tend to ignore such posts. But, sometimes, they might actually pertain to something we do ... like park our personal vehicle in a campus lot so we don't have to park in our residential complex.

Amen, brother. My favorite story is about an employee who called complaining that we'd never notified him that we were making changes to the investment options for the retirement plans. In the Very. Next. Sentence he announced that he never read any of the notices we sent out. I informed him that the notices he never received were in the packages he never read. When we put the notices that had been sent out together, it was fully half an inch thick.

[Ulrich_Stern]

If it is anything like the University where I work, email went out, there was postings up on the web site for the department and/or transportation and parking services, signs posted in and around the parking lot in question, and maybe even blasts on other social media sites as well - Facebook and Wildfire, to name just two.

Many of us tend to ignore such posts. But, sometimes, they might actually pertain to something we do ... like park our personal vehicle in a campus lot so we don't have to park in our residential complex.

As I stated in my original posting, there was no form of notification sent out to students. The student's website contained no notice or warning about this parking lot being closed down, even when I looked through all of the postings for the last several weeks, and I regularly check my student Email as well. This is a small college campus containing roughly 5000 students or less daily. If appropriate notifications had been made, the campus would not have towed over a dozen vehicles. And I state Again, there was no attempt to contact the owners of the vehicles after the fact. This was not repossession or removal of vehicles parked illegally, this was a college campus stating that they do not care about their students rights.

I came here asking for advice and have been greeted by nothing but prejudice regarding my status as a student, comments about "Life Sucks", and doubts about whether I've followed through on gathering what info I need.

[PayrolGuy]

You have no damages hence there is no nothing to collect. If you think the Dean or any member of the school staff is going to be arrested you are wrong.

[cdwjava]

Was your vehicle damaged? Did you incur a financial loss of some kind as a result of the vehicle being moved? If the answer to both of these questions is "no", then what exactly would you hope to sue for? Lawsuits are about money. Compensation to make you whole. SOME torts have built-in financial penalties to them, but I doubt that moving your car out of the way so a lot can be paved is one of them. You are, of course, free to consult local attorneys and see what they have to say.

A suggestion: Maybe you shouldn't park in the campus lot.