First, let me state that we were legally parked within our gated apartment complex. The scam not only rests with Blue Bayou Towing, but also with the owners of the apartments who has the contract with Blue Bayou and the Houston police department who sanctions such behavior and the storage yard. Their take for us was $204 and we were only one of four tenants towed that night.
At the blessing of the owners of the apartments, Blue Bayou cruises through the apartment parking lot two or three times per week. There are no permits nor stickers to designate tenants; and though there are assigned spaces, we were in a "free" space the night we were towed. The assigned spaces are so narrow and small that there is continual danger of hitting a metal post as you pull in and out of the spaces designed by the complex owners.
The front wheel of our vehicle was sitting on the white line of the parking space. Not a deliberate violation of parking in someone else's space nor parking across two spaces, but an accidental (it was late at night when the vehicle was parked there), slightly over the line incident. Speaking with the other victims, I found that to be the same for them... It is easy to recognize others in distress as they are struggling to find out what has happened early in the morning when their vehicles are simply gone! Hours of work are missed and hundreds of dollars are extorted from working-class peoples that are struggling to get by. There are no postings warning of such severe action, no notes on your door, no contact whatsoever - a miscellaneous statement at the time of your leasing saying "you must park correctly". Blue Bayou works under cover of night, has no known street address (afraid of retribution?), and it is rumored, shares it's ill-gotten gains with the apartment complex.
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