DH's truck was towed.

[Deleted]

We are one of only two houses on our street without a driveway so we have to park on the street. We have three vehicles, one is a truck that DH uses for work, as he works in construction. We got permission from a property owner to park in front of their empty lot so it obstructs parking for absolutely no one. We only have room for two vehicles in front of our home and I don't want to park in front of anyone's home.

So, it's winter, and DH doesn't use his truck more than once or so per week.

This afternoon DH goes outside. His truck is gone. The first thing we do is call the police. They then tell us that someone called it in as abandoned. DH told them that there was no tag to indicate it would be towed, he was never contacted or told anything, etc. The police in this tiny ass town have no response. They have no official policy or ordinance regarding street parking, they just towed it because some jackass called it in as abandoned. We have been parking in that spot for over a year now.

I'm ready to rage.

[isabel]

Whoa. What are they going to do about it?? That is such BS and you shouldn't have to pay to get the truck back. I would be livid.

[Deleted]

Was it registered and in working order? That's pretty messed up if so. I'm sorry.

[Deleted]

koosh- this is why it's parked in front of an empty lot. Should we just take it out and cruise it around once a day to appease people like you? My husband works in construction, it's low season. From March-December it was drove daily.

[Deleted]

NQB- yes, he just drove it Wednesday.

[bunch]

God papier, don't you know that parking on the street is so tacky?? Eye roll. That seriously blows.

[bronxgirl]

Jan 27, 2013 21:51:18 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 21:47:40 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

koosh- this is why it's parked in front of an empty lot. Should we just take it out and cruise it around once a day to appease people like you? My husband works in construction, it's low season. From March-December it was drove daily.

I don't see why it matters if its parked in front of a empty lot. Unless you parked on the empty lot, the street is still city property so someone else on your street might not like it. There was one on our street parked in front of an empty lot for a month and it got towed. It's still illegal where I live at least.

She doesn't have a driveway- where the hell is she supposed to park??

[Velvetshady]

Jan 27, 2013 21:51:18 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 21:47:40 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

koosh- this is why it's parked in front of an empty lot. Should we just take it out and cruise it around once a day to appease people like you? My husband works in construction, it's low season. From March-December it was drove daily.

I don't see why it matters if its parked in front of a empty lot. Unless you parked on the empty lot, the street is still city property so someone else on your street might not like it. There was one on our street parked in front of an empty lot for a month and it got towed. It's still illegal where I live at least.

It's illegal to park on the street? WhereTF do you live and whereTF do people park that don't have driveways?

And WhyTF do you care if someone else parks a vehicle in front of someone else's lot?

[bronxgirl]

Jan 27, 2013 21:58:15 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 21:54:38 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

She doesn't have a driveway- where the hell is she supposed to park??

I must have missed the part where I said she shouldn't park on the street... I believe what I said was that it's annoying when people park on the street and never move their car. 

okay, now you're not really making any sense.  Why does she need to move it?  Why do you care??

[rubytue]

Jan 27, 2013 21:58:15 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 21:54:38 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

She doesn't have a driveway- where the hell is she supposed to park??

I must have missed the part where I said she shouldn't park on the street... I believe what I said was that it's annoying when people park on the street and never move their car. 

So what does a two adult family with three cars do? Our truck moves about twice a month. And we have community parking (lot, not street).

[flamingeaux]

Jan 27, 2013 21:58:15 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 21:54:38 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

She doesn't have a driveway- where the hell is she supposed to park??

I must have missed the part where I said she shouldn't park on the street... I believe what I said was that it's annoying when people park on the street and never move their car. 

Except that's not the case, he drove it yesterday.  And if I have a couple of days off with nowhere to be, I might not leave my house for them. Just because someone doesn't drive their car for a few days at a time does not make it abandoned. 

Sorry OP that blows.  Hope they didn't charge you to get it back.

[Roc A Bee]

That sucks. Does it snow where you live? At my inlaws they can't park in the street overnight.

[midnightmare81]

O I would be livid! Did they not even run the plate and see it was registered nearby? I would like to think they would have at least knocked and said something before towing it away. I don't get why people give a f*ck where people park on a street with houses that lack driveways unless its blocking them in.

Koosh, what if they DID drive it everyday but worked shorter hours then you do, therefore was used daily yet always there when you were busy out surveying the road for cars that are one minute over the allowed 72 hours. How do you keep all those cars straight? Do you have timers set for each vehicle? How do you prove they have been there too long, or do you just pick and choose which cars you like and which ones you don't knowing there is no way of proving the amount of time a car has been there and whether or not is HAS moved and was just returned to the same spot?

Papiercheeri- Do you have any paperwork showing the tow? I would bring the paperwork showing where the tow happened and ask them to look up the registered address. Then ask them why they would tow without at least trying to contact the owner who lived right down the dam road?! They sound like the kind of idiots who would report to a robbery and shoot whoever couldn't claim the house as their first.

Ok, that last part might be a LITTLE extreme, but your PD really don't seem like the sharpest tools in the shed...

[bronxgirl]

Jan 27, 2013 22:09:22 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 27, 2013 22:05:10 GMT -5 flamingeaux said:

Except that's not the case, he drove it yesterday.  And if I have a couple of days off with nowhere to be, I might not leave my house for them. Just because someone doesn't drive their car for a few days at a time does not make it abandoned. 

Sorry OP that blows.  Hope they didn't charge you to get it back.

No she said he last drove it on Wednesday and noticed it gone today. Check your local laws because at least in Seattle you get 72 hours before you can report it and 24 hours before they can tow it. If you don't like it, I guess you shouldn't move to Seattle. It's not like I made the damn law.

Does Papiercherri live in Seattle?  If not your reaction is rather bizarre.

[Deleted]

koosh- I understand parking laws in cities and more congested areas. We have similar parking laws in the neighborhood where I work, I really do obey them. lol

This is a town with a population of 3k. The officer could not give me one damn law that said we shouldn't have been parked there. There are hoards of parking places on this street, empty for the taking by anyone who wants them.

He actually told me that after we called the tow company and got it back, we can park it in the same spot, since they know someone on the street owns it.

[midnightmare81]

Jan 27, 2013 22:25:48 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

koosh- I understand parking laws in cities and more congested areas. We have similar parking laws in the neighborhood where I work, I really do obey them. lol

This is a town with a population of 3k. The officer could not give me one damn law that said we shouldn't have been parked there. There are hoards of parking places on this street, empty for the taking by anyone who wants them.

He actually told me that after we called the tow company and got it back, we can park it in the same spot, since they know someone on the street owns it.

SO they didn't even run the plate to see that in the first place?!?!?

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2013 22:34:49 GMT -5 midnightmare81 said:

Jan 27, 2013 22:25:48 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

koosh- I understand parking laws in cities and more congested areas. We have similar parking laws in the neighborhood where I work, I really do obey them. lol

This is a town with a population of 3k. The officer could not give me one damn law that said we shouldn't have been parked there. There are hoards of parking places on this street, empty for the taking by anyone who wants them.

He actually told me that after we called the tow company and got it back, we can park it in the same spot, since they know someone on the street owns it.

SO they didn't even run the plate to see that in the first place?!?!?

I don't guess so. I'm seriously baffled. We thought someone had stole it. The police officer told us that we would have to direct all questions to his captain...a nice way of saying he has no idea what the fuck is going on.

[aurora]

Sounds infuriating, esp. since you made an effort not to disrupt your neighbors by parking in front of an empty lot! I hope you can get it back with minimal hassle.

[tacokick]

Maybe because it was in front of the lot and not a house someone thought it was dumped? I lived near a vacant lot years ago and people would abandon stolen cars in front of there all the time.

They should have run the plates though! Sloppy work, PD.

[flamingeaux]

reading fail , but either way, it's hard for me to believe they couldn't tell that it was someone's.  Even if he hasn't been driving it lately, surely the neighbors should have noticed him driving it during his busy season, and should have known it was not abandoned.

[wannabe]

OMG. My blog post for tomorrow is all about the panic I went through after realizing my car got towed away while parked on a downtown l.a. street.

It was awful.

[Heisenberg]

ugh that's so annoying.

[chessie]

That really sucks. In my area you have to call in your car if you wish to leave it on the street, or it will be towed. Obviously owners didn't give the town a heads up. Sucks big time for communication issues like this. In our area, its normal for people to have 3-4 cars and they will make spots on the lawn for their dormant vehicles so they dont get towed, maybe this is something you can do?

[Deleted]

What crap.

I know a vehicle can be classified as abandoned after 3 days here but that 3 days starts after the police show up and during that time period they leave notice and contact the owner.

[thatgirl2478]

Well that sucks. I would see if you could fight the fee.

FWIW in my old town, alternate parking was enforced all year long. On even days you could park on the even side of the street, on odd days you parked on the odd side. At midnight it switched... talk about confusing. If you were still on the other side of the street at 4am when parking enforcement came through you got a ticket. We were lucky enough to have a nice long drive way with a double spot at the garage end (so we could fit 4 - 5 cars in our drive) but our neighbors didn't have that option.

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2013 22:34:49 GMT -5 midnightmare81 said:

Jan 27, 2013 22:25:48 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

koosh- I understand parking laws in cities and more congested areas. We have similar parking laws in the neighborhood where I work, I really do obey them. lol

This is a town with a population of 3k. The officer could not give me one damn law that said we shouldn't have been parked there. There are hoards of parking places on this street, empty for the taking by anyone who wants them.

He actually told me that after we called the tow company and got it back, we can park it in the same spot, since they know someone on the street owns it.

SO they didn't even run the plate to see that in the first place?!?!?

That's what I find weird.  We called on a truck one time that didn't move for at least three months.  And yes we were sure, you could see where the street sweeper had gone around it and the coffee cup inside lost all color.  First thing they said they would do is run the plates to see if it had been stolen and dumped, then they'd tried to call the owners.   Our street must be too nice about cars not moving

[Velvetshady]

All I can say is I'm glad I don't live near some of you. I very regularly don't drive my vehicle for 1-2 weeks at a time. I find it annoying that a) some of you seem think a car that hasn't moved in three days is a problem/means it is abandoned and b) you give a crap about other people's vehicles being parked on your street (but not in front of your lot).

Hell, in the last four weeks, my vehicle has been driven twice--once when DH took it to work to use the HOV lanes and on Friday when I finally left the house after a month of being iced/snowed/iced in then of having the great ick. I had left the house a couple of other times during that time, but DH drove one of his vehicles.

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2013 10:22:39 GMT -5 @randomcdn said:

Jan 27, 2013 22:34:49 GMT -5 midnightmare81 said:

SO they didn't even run the plate to see that in the first place?!?!?

That's what I find weird.  We called on a truck one time that didn't move for at least three months.  And yes we were sure, you could see where the street sweeper had gone around it and the coffee cup inside lost all color.  First thing they said they would do is run the plates to see if it had been stolen and dumped, then they'd tried to call the owners.   Our street must be too nice about cars not moving

Yeah, I called the tow yard this morning and she was like, "yeah, they called us to pick it up and said it was abandoned."

I was all, "I live on this street, it's registered to my husband. How is it abandoned?! I don't have a driveway!"

She was actually really nice.  She said the cost right now is $190 but they will waive the lot fee for a few days if we want to try to figure something out with the police.  She apologized and said she had no idea why they would call for it to be picked up. So.. +1 for nice people I guess.

DH is going to the police station today to try to figure out exactly what prompted all this and we would also like to know where we can find these magical parking laws that they seem to pull out of thin air.

[takeonyou]

I don't understand why people would care about how often a vehicle is used as long as it isn't obviously dumped and an eye-sore (think car up on blocks in the front yard).

We had neighbor's call on dh's work truck as well. Like OP, his season is March - November so it doesn't move much in the winter. The cops knocked on the door and asked him to move it. When dh asked where he should move it, they had nothing to say. In my town as long as it is registered and insured, they cannot tell you to move the vehicle off the street.

I really hope you don't have to pay tow charges. Was it towed by the city or a private company?

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2013 10:42:54 GMT -5 takeonyou said:

I don't understand why people would care about how often a vehicle is used as long as it isn't obviously dumped and an eye-sore (think car up on blocks in the front yard).

We had neighbor's call on dh's work truck as well. Like OP, his season is March - November so it doesn't move much in the winter. The cops knocked on the door and asked him to move it. When dh asked where he should move it, they had nothing to say. In my town as long as it is registered and insured, they cannot tell you to move the vehicle off the street. 

Oh, if I find out that someone in the neighborhood complained, I will knock on every fucking door until I find them and rain fire on those assholes.

It's on like Donkey Kong.