Car got towed yesterday .. would appreciate some insights

SPD4XTC · 07-15-2008, 09:26 PM

Hi,

My sister's vehicle was towed (IMO illegally) after midnight last night. I would really appreciate any legal clarification of what happened, ideally by lawyer or cop as this situation leaves me thinking having title to a car means squat in CA.

First off, Here's some background information:

My sister got a loan from a big named loan company a few years ago and bought a car out of state.

Due to someone's mistake, most likely out of state dealer, her name is the ONLY name that ended up on the car's title. No lien holder name on title.

She missed two month's payment so last night the repo guys showed up and decided to tow the car. She explicitly told him that she has title to the car and he's not allowed to tow. She said she's going inside the house to the the title to show him that she owns the car. While she ran inside. He drove off. So I am minding my own business when she ran into my room screaming that someone took her car. I ran outside and saw the tow truck at the end of the street.

I figured that there was only one way to the freeway so I jumped into my car ( had to wait almost 2 minute for the stupid garage door to open and close ) and then sped after him. I wanted to try and stop him or at least see where he's taking the car before calling the police. I guess the tow guy is really smart and hid somewhere instead of going to the freeway because even going very fast, I didn't catch him on the 30 minute drive.

So we called the police and reported the car stolen. The police in turn told us it was a repo tow, and they will contact the tow company for us in the morning. They did not give us the name of the company or location where the car was towed to.

So short version of a bunch of calls to police, to the loan company, we finally got in contact with the tow yard, and they agreed to release her car without us paying any fee, but will not tow it back to the original place they took the car.

What the tow company told us was simply that they got a tow order from the loan company. It doesn't even matter what paper work we would have shown the driver. It would still have been towed.

What the police told us was that we can not report this car stolen, because the police knew where it was, but they wont help us retrieve the car because its a civil dispute.

So,

And yes, I am aware that its a technicality that the only registered owner is my sister and the loan company is not also on the title.

But the title SHOULD mean that by California law, the ONLY owner of the vehicle and the ONLY person with rights to that vehicle is the parties named on title. In this case, ONLY my sister.

The fact that my sister owes the loan company money should be dealt in financial court if anything because the loan company failed to put a lien on the vehicle at registration !

The tow company itself should not have knowledge of the financial information and should be concerned only with their job which is towing cars. They should have to check prior to towing that the person ordering the tow is in fact allowed to. (ie on title)

Now,

My questions:

1. How can it not be a stolen vehicle, if the ONLY registered owner on title ( my sister ) does not have possession of the vehicle, and not knowledge of the location of it ?

2. How can they tow a car without checking who's name is on the vehicle title?

Anyways, sorry for the super long post.

I am going to the tow company tomorrow and I am livid right now. The driver was disrespectful and dismissive as was the tow company and even the police.

I want the car back to its original place for free or I am filing a law suit or at least a complaint against both the tow driver and the tow company with the BBB.

If it is true that anyone can order a tow and tow companies will just tow any car regardless of ownership on title, then I am going to have a lot of fun in the next couple months.

XtremeModifier ®² · 07-16-2008, 08:48 AM

Well, the whole deal is that if your sister falls behind on payments, the loan company can take anything listed as collateral on the agreement, whether it's the car, a house, or whatever else. That's why there's alot of repo's right now, with the difficult current financial situation.

They don't need the title, since she almost DEFINITELY signed off on this when she got the loan, with or without the loan company listed on the title. It's called a binding agreement for a reason, and any loan company worth it's weight in lead will have anyone who will take out a loan sign some sort of paperwork. If they didn't, you're EXTREMELY lucky that some banker forgot a piece of paper here or there, as they almost (if not absolutely) never do.

So thus, if a term of a contract regarding to repossession of a vehicle isn't met that lists you as the beneficiary, then yes, you can call up a tow company and get the vehicle reposessed.

GlenB ®² · 07-18-2008, 05:20 PM

No lawyer here.... just what I know about how things happen like that in South Carolina... could be different in the people's republic of California... but something to look into.

1. The tow truck driver was supposed to leave when he was confronted. He can not disturb the peace. Once someone came out and disputed the tow, he was supposed to leave.

2. He was not allowed to trespass. Where was the car? Was it fully accessible by public access? or was it parked on you lawn? He can not legally pull it from your lawn.

3. He can not move or touch anything else but you car to access the car... did he have to move a trash can to get to it? Anything?

I don't think the title means much here. The vehicle is probably named on a contract somewhere by VIN number as collateral. They don't need a title in that case. They can take it and make a new title. As a repair tech, I can take your car and have a new title made if you refuse to pay me. The car is collateral.... the cool thing is, I can even take the car away from the big scary loan companies.