A few weeks ago I was the victim of an illegal towing scam being operating by Dominion Towing - a large contract tow company that services many neighborhoods and apartment complexes in Virginia.
I arrived to visit my friend at an apartment complex in the Virginia DC metro region in the late evening. I parked my car in a lot that was clearly marked "visitor parking" and went to my friend's apartment for about an hour.
When I returned my car was gone. I quickly figured out it had been towed by Dominion - they had two other tow truck operators working the same complex's parking lots at that time and towing other cars. So I called the number on one of their trucks and yep - they had my car too. And the guy on the phone all too happily informed my that I could retrieve it, for a mere $100 impound fee.
One problem though - my car was legally parked when they removed it. You see, in Fairfax County it is a Class III misdemeanor offense for a tow truck operator to remove vehicles from a contractor's parking lot when there are no warning signs posted to tell you that parking there is prohibited, by permit only, etc. See Fairfax County Ordinance # 82-5-32. It requires the warning sign to be posted visibly at all entrances to the lot and to have the telephone number of the tow truck operator (i.E. Dominion Towing).
Well guess what. The lot I was in was marked "visitor parking" next to the entrance, and there were NO warning signs anywhere. There was nothing at the entrance, no telephone number to call, and nothing saying a permit was required there.in fact, there were no signs at all except the one that said "visitor parking." Under county law it was illegal for Dominion to be towing any cars from that lot! But they were doing it anyway. And mine was one of the ones they nabbed.
So when I called the guy at the Dominion impound lot he was just about the rudest fellow I've ever met in my life. You see, I was aware of what the law said about signs and I explained to him that my car had been illegally removed according to that law. He didn't like hearing that little inconvenient fact though because his truckers were making quite a killing that evening by towing other people from the same lot, marked "visitor parking."
He basically told me there was nothing I could do about it and said that his truckers were enforcing a "verbal policy" that said tenants had to obtain guest parking permits - even for people who were using the designated visitors lot. He didn't like it when I pointed out that this supposed "policy" wasn't posted anywhere and that his company was still in violation of the law. So I hung up and pulled out the digital camera to snap some pictures of the "visitor parking" sign as well as the conspicuous absence of any other sign.
By now it was like 3 in the morning and I had already given up on getting a good night's sleep before going to work the next day at 8. So I figured, what the hell? I'll go to the impound lot, attempt once again to educate this fellow about the law, and retrieve my vehicle. So I dialed up a ride and went to the address they gave me. It was just about the seediest, nastiest, dirtiest unlit hole-in-the-wall dumpster of an impound lot that I've ever seen this side of one of those sections of DC where they set all the murder records that you'd never dream of setting foot in after dark.
There weren't any lights, no visible attendants to meet me, no well-lit signs marking the place, no place to load or unload (we had to literally pull onto the gravel on the side of the road to get out of the car), and very minimal security beyond a ricketty old chain link fence that looked like it would fall over if you sneezed on it. But there was one thing - a constant stream of Dominion tow trucks going in and out of the place with the cars of other unsuspecting motorists. Keep in mind that this was at 3 in the morning. The whole world was empty and asleep, except for a parade of these tow trucks going every which way and entering or exiting every couple of seconds.
So I walk in and meandered my way through a completely unlit parking lot, hoping to avoid getting mugged or something along the way. I came to this dirty little trashed out building - also completely unlit inside and out - with a seedy looking fellow who looked like he was straight out of a West Virginia moonshiner camp. I said "I'm here to pick up my car and would like you to release it to me because it was illegally towed here." I told the guy about the county ordinance, told him about the "visitor parking" sign, and told him that his drivers were over there right at that very moment pulling other people's cars out of the same visitor parking lot without the legal authority to do so. His response? A big fat "that isn't my problem."
It was basically go fly a kite. The only way free my property from this modern day highwayman was to pay up. As in "hand over $100 right now and I'll free the hostage that is your car." Seeing as Jethro the Impound Attendant was seemingly impervious to the logic and letter of the law, I found myself without any other option... So pay I did. I had to eventually get home after all. And I had to drive to work in the morning.
So I did a little research the next day and printed out the law they violated, then faxed it over to the landlord's office at my friend's apartment. When I talked to them on the phone they admitted that I had been illegally towed. True - they had a contract with Dominion to go through their lot after hours, but Dominion was bound by the Fairfax County ordinance on towing that requires them to abide by posted warning signs in the parking lot.
Since there weren't any signs where they were towing from, Dominion owes me my $100 for their "mistake" (read: scam) of illegally impounding my vehicle. Now they're supposedly trying to get me a refund. I'll wait and see but given my encounter with the "professional, customer-centric" folks down at the impound lot doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
And it all leaves me wondering how many other innocent victims these people are towing. Well, I know there are at least a few others cause I saw them being towed from the same place as my car. But will any of them stand up for their rights and property against this sleazy extortion machine?
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