Texas towing company tows a resident's vehicle out of his assigned parking spot claiming that his parking pass was backwards, then demand $420 in cash payment: 'I thought it was stolen'

This tenant woke up one morning to find that his car was missing from his assigned spot.

He thought that it might have been stolen. But learned that the building’s towing company, which regularly made the rounds, had been through early that morning at 3 AM. They claimed that the car was unauthorized because the parking pass had been turned the wrong way around. But the tenant thought this was a thin excuse by the predatory towing company in an attempt to make some profit.

The car was in an assigned spot with a registered parking pass. What was clearly a parking pass for the company was displayed on the dashboard. Even if it was turned around, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to see that it was the proper pass and put two and two together.

As these types of tow yards go, you have to pay cash to get your car out. But the clock is ticking, and the obscene hourly rate they charge just to have your car sitting there makes it a costly mistake if you don’t have the cash in advance.

Because your only option is to use the ATM that they have there in the lobby. Which, conveniently and predictably, charges a premium for the honor. We’re talking a surcharge of something like $20. But no, no, they’re not preying on the unsuspecting; they’re running a legitimate business. What do you mean?

Tow company hauled my car from my assigned spot because my permit was flipped backward and now wants $420 cash

LOCATION: Техаs

Story / Hyrule_Relic

So I wake up this morning for work, walk out to my assigned parking stall that I pay an extra $120 a month for, and my car is completely gone. I thought it was stolen until the leasing office casually told me the predatory towing company they partner with did a 3 AM sweep through the garage. Went down to the impound yard an hour later. 

The guy behind the bulletproof glass shows me a grainy flashlight photo of my windshield. My valid plastic parking pass was hanging on the rearview mirror, but the printed logo was facing inward toward the cabin instead of facing the glass. Because of that, he claims it was an "unauthorized vehicle". 

He is demanding $420 to release my car right now. CASH only. He told me their card reader has been broken for three months and refused to give me an itemized receipt before I hand over the bills. 

If I leave it there past noon, they tack on another $65 daily storage fee. I should of called the non-emergency police line while standing in their lobby, but leasing is claiming they have zero control over third-party tow contracts once a vehicle is hooked. 

Can a private tow company actually hold my car hostage over a permit that was clearly visible inside the vehicle?

I think getting your car towed like this is a mistake that you only make once. Whether or not is actually your own fault or not. Something like having the proper pass displayed is something you will make sure that you have forever afterward. 

Even though it was totally my own fault, I got my car towed once in university. I left my car parked out front of my house for too long. Parking was limited to just a few hours and, intending to go out again later, I left it parked out front. I promptly forgot entirely about this and by the time I realized hours later, the car was gone.

Should have just parked it out back. I only made that mistake once, and was sure never to again.

But I lived in an ancient house in Seattle, and the “driveway” was this square of pavement in the alley behind the house that was hardly big enough to get a 90s Toyota Camry into. It went up from the alley at a 45 degree angle around the corner of a 90 degree cement block retaining wall. Every time you took the car in or out, you were risking losing some paintwork. Which can and did happen.

Anyway, so if you weren’t leaving the car for long, you parked it out front, which only had a few-hour limit for parking. And you tried not to forget, and if you did, it wouldn’t be there when you came back thanks to the fastidious towing company the city employed.

The tow yard was the dingiest hole-in-the-wall place I’ve even laid eyes on. Old bare wood floors that no one had ever thought about cleaning. Steel grating, bulletproof glass. Probably there for good reason. It's strictly utilitarian in appearance, adding to the ambience.

As some commenters have pointed out, the tenant wasn’t really following the “pass clearly displayed on the dash rule. But, really? Towing just because a registered car was facing the wrong way might be following a rule, but it’s definitely not following the spirit of the rules. The only spirit on display here is the spirited desire for profit and greed.

It can feel pretty unfair when this happens. Even if you did technically break a rule, you're already paying a premium to park there, not to be at the mercy of a predatory contract.