Complaint Review: Curley & Red's Towing

On Monday November 8th, 2010 at approximately 6:45am we parked our 2003 Ford Mustang at the Pillar Point RV Park at 4000 Cabrillo Hwy, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019. In the provided fee envelope, we check marked the $10 day use of the parking area and put our money (which included coin change because we did not have enough dollar bills) into the white Day Use Fee collection bin nearest to the entrance. We hung the Parking permit tag, with the correct side facing out, from the rear view mirror inside the car. At approximately 7:00am the Curley & Reds towing & Body Shop Company towed our car, despite the fact that we followed all of the posted rules and paid the Day Use Fee. We called the towing companies number posted on the Fee Collection Bin and were informed by a woman answering the phone that it would cost us $200 to get the car out of impound. We explained that we had paid the fee and she informed us that we would have to take it up with the tower. A few hours later we were able to get a cab to take us to the Towing companies business at 215 San Mateo Road, Half Moon Bay, CA. They told us the fee was $240 to get the car out of impound. We asked if they were going to credit us for the $10 Fee we had already paid for the parking and the two gentlemen in the front office looked at us blankly. The younger of the men said that there was no money in the fee box at all and I quickly explained to him that I had placed the envelope into the box myself, and that it contained coin change as well as paper bills so it was certainly heavy and should have been very easy to locate. The older gentleman said to us that they usually charge an additional $10, and that he was cutting us a break by not charging us $250 instead. We said nothing at this point, wanting to avoid getting into a conflict. They un-barricaded our car and we left. The next day I called Pillar Point RV Park at (650)712-9277 and had an advised recorded conversation with Terry Morey who stated she was the manager. During the conversation, she advised me that all she did was collect the money for the parking fees in the evening from under a rock and that Curley & Reds Towing Company have their own key to the fee boxes and full discretion to collect money and to tow vehicles. I explained to her that I didnt understand why a tow company would be given full reign over fee collection and towing when they didnt own the property. She said that this is how they do it. I asked if she was present when my vehicle was towed to authorize its removal from the property and she said that she was not, she only came at night to collect the fees from under a rock. By the end of the conversation she started being very vague about how they handled business and not giving me any information. She said that she would call me back but I never did receive a call back from her. Ive been hung up on several times since this initial call. I did some further research into the California laws in regards to a tow companys authority, and found that Curley and Reds Towing Company plainly broke the law on 2 accounts. In pursuant to the California 2010 Vehicle Code General Provisions and Divisions, under V C Section 22658 Removal From Private Property, the law states in section (l) (1) (A): A towing company shall not remove or commence the removal of a vehicle from private property without first obtaining the written authorization from the property owner or lessee, including an association of a common interest development, or an employee or agent thereof, who shall be present at the time of removal and verify the alleged violation, except that presence and verification is not required if the person authorizing the tow is the property owner, or the owners agent who is not a tow operator, of a residential rental property of 15 or fewer units that does not have an onsite owner, owners agent or employee, and the tenant has verified the violation, requested the tow from that tenants assigned parking space, and provided a signed request or electronic mail, or has called and provides a signed request or electronic mail within 24 hours, to the property owner or owners agent, which the owner or agent shall provide to the towing company within 48 hours of authorizing the tow. The signed request or electronic mail shall contain the name and address of the tenant, and the date and time the tenant requested the tow. A towing company shall obtain within 48 hours of receiving the written authorization to tow a copy of a tenant request required pursuant to this subparagraph. For the purpose of this subparagraph, a person providing the written authorization who is required to be present on the private property at the time of the tow does not have to be physically present at the specified location of where the vehicle to be removed is located on the private property. Curley & Reds Towing Company DID NOT have the owner or manager present, as well as no signature from the management, at the time of the towing of my vehicle. This was an admission directly from the management of the private property, Terry Morey herself, during our openly recorded phone conversation. In addition to this law, the 2010 Vehicle Code also states the following: (C) (i) When the vehicle owner or his or her agent claims the vehicle, the towing company prior to payment of a towing or storage charge shall provide a photocopy of the written authorization to the vehicle owner or the agent. This photocopy of the written authorization agent WAS NOT provided to us at the time we claimed our vehicle. Our family feels as if our rights have been violated and that we were taken advantage of. We followed all of the posted rules to the letter, and we were still exploited by Curley & Reds Towing company. Worst of all, the management at Pillar Point RV Park continues to have a blatant disregard to following the law.