My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Alabama

I hope that this inquiry is being posted in the correct forum. Here is the situation:

We do not use any type of sticker or tag to identify that we are residents. The apartment complex office also does not maintain a record of vehicles or tags owned by the tenants. The apartment utilizes more of a "good faith" system where the tenants have assigned parking designated by their apartment number on the sidewalk. The only towing signs are for violators of unauthorized parking. We have had an issue with guests of tenants parking in other tenants spaces which has led to several monthly newsletter flyers stating we need to politely ask our guests to park in designated "visitor" parking. Also, for occupants with two vehicles, one needs to be kept in the same "visitor" parking area so as to not take up someone else's space.

Yesterday afternoon, 5/22, I discovered the landlord had my vehicle towed earlier that morning. I had recently purchased a new vehicle and have been using it for all driving. The second vehicle is listed for sale in AutoTrader and the local newspaper and was parked in the "visitor" parking per requirements from my landlord. I am single so the second vehicle is not being used. At the time of the towing the vehicle had been in the space approximately two weeks (this is also confirmed by the landlord). I last drove it on 5/8 because I went out of state the next day and drove my new car and have been driving it since that time.

My landlord claims that since it had been sitting there for two weeks without being moved that she considered it abandoned and had it towed. I had to pay the towing service, which I understand since it is their job, but because the towing was authorized by her I feel the property owners should reimburse me the cost of the fee or allow me to subtract that amount from one month's rent. However, they claim there have been situations in the past where cars were abandoned in their parking lot so she felt it was another similar situation. I tried to compromise with her and state that even though I understand her viewpoint, I had parked my vehicle per the guidelines of the apartment complex. She said she put a notice on the window stating for the owner to contact the office to avoid being towed. Since I did not drive the vehicle, and enough time did not pass that I felt the car needed to be cranked just to ensure everything was running well, I did not think to ever suspect I would have to check my car to make sure I was not going to get towed. I periodically checked to make sure that my tires were ok, but since the front of the vehicle was facing away from me and toward a building I never looked at the front.

My property owners do not feel they were wrong to tow it and therefore do not want to compensate me for what I feel was an error in judgement on their part. If they felt it was abandoned or stolen and left behind then they should have requested an officer to run the tag (on a side note, an officer lives in the apartment complex) to discover the owner. I felt it was a hasty and costly decision to tow it and am wondering if there is anything I can legally do since I was in the parking space that is designated for owner's second vehicles. I understand I would be liable if I was in someone else's designated parking, or if I was in the designated "Office" parking or "Mail-Man" space.

It is also worth mentioning that the vehicle is not in bad condition, so it could not have been mistaken for a piece of junk that was left behind. It has not been in any wrecks or collisions and is no different than any other good condition SUV. The tags and such are all current.

Any advice? I can provide additional details if anyone feels I overlooked something.