Can I steal my own car back from the tow company?

This thread is filled with so much BS from people who don't know what they are talking about. In a previous life I served for 2 years as a reserve deputy. I have police academy training and have studied law. I also don't take crap from tow companies.

I have taken my car back twice now within a month from the same tow lot. It's been weeks since the last time.

Laws vary by state, but there are some universal Constitutional constants. First, if it's your personal property you legally own, then it is not the tow company's property, and they cannot legally report stolen what they don't have legal title to. Reporting a vehicle stolen requires a victim and that victim has to be the legal owner of the car to support a criminal complaint of auto theft. Easy enough?

They may file a lien on it, but this is civil, not criminal. For that they have to take you to small claims court. It's not a criminal matter.

The most they can really get you on legally is theft of services and trespassing. That is unless you did some property damage trying to get in or out of the lot, in which case you can be charged with other things for that, including possibly burglary or criminal mischief. If you get caught on the property by the cops it will go badly for you and you will be fighting trumped up charges. If you make a clean get away twice, like I did, then there is little they can do that is worth the trouble for them. Theft of services and the trespassing is a petty misdemeanor charge and doubtful they will pursue it. This is different if the lot is on city property rather than private though. In that case you'd be better off not trying it. breaking into city property could get you a trumped up felony charge just to make an example of you.

On private property this whole situation is much like a repo. The cops can't really take sides because it is a civil matter for the most part. The repo guy often trespasses to come get your car from your yard, but the cops won't prosecute. At the same time, here in Texas, you can go free after shooting a repo man in the back if he comes after dark and trespasses. There have been just such court cases. So, you might also get shot on the tow lot. Those are the breaks.

This is all about possession. Once you have your car back and are not caught on their property, they are pretty much fucked out of the money outside of a small claims suit, unless that is if they succeed in scaring the shit out of you and you relent on a mere threat of prosecution. It's that easy.

If they come to me with a threat of prosecution, I will tell them to go pound sand, and knowing the law like I do, that will be that.

 

Fuck yeah. Then sell it to some moron on Craigslist a couple states away for a few thousand extra dollars. You've got nothing to lose at this point.

 

so if the cops made you pay up then why the fuck didnt you just pay the 150 and be over with it in the first place?

150 is alot...but i would have rather paid that then the 200 i had to pay to get my car out of impound after i was arrested.

 

...My car got impounded for not having a fckn permit.

So i stole a bike and rode it to the bank, then tow lot and got it back
I too thought of just going in a taking my car, but they had a fckn gaurd dog. No fun :|

 

I was just thinking that when reading the OP, then get the fine and go pick it up...when they say its not there, u be like "wtf u mean its not here? YOU TOWED IT!" Make a big deal and maybe sue them for a new car or something...

On second thought, don't do that, I don't condone that, but if it was planned well and executed properly it could be beneficial in the end...

EDIT: I just read u got it back, oh well...still an idea. Lol

 

Good to see ya got it back, if the tow company was really being dicks tho I would have told the cop "no way, the dude at the desk told me $200 cash and they wouldn't even file paperwork. I paid them the $200, he gave me keys and I left..."

Tell them you paid the dude, dude must have pocketed your cash and still reported it stolen so his bosses wouldn't get mad at him. Make that douche out to be the criminal.

Once again, prob a terrible idea, but the thought is entertaining.

 

I know this is an old thread but obviously I was brought here because this crap just happened to me last night when I was parked in my employer's parking lot! I have a permit but apparently its not valid after a certain time of night (of course, nobody ever told me this!) so when we parked there to hit a birthday party at a bar across the street they jacked it. As irritated as I was, I was perfectly fine with paying it. There are signs that say its a tow zone, after all, and I was going to put it on my expense report for work.

But then I went out to get it today and there it was, not locked, not booted, nothing. There was a man in the lot who had a uniform on and I approached him to pay the fine so I could be on my way and what does the guy say but "Oh just take it. Its blocking my entrance." I take it and half an hour later I'm getting calls and text messages that charges are going to be filed for grand theft auto of my own damn car! I'm calling the district justice in the morning because fuck these guys, you know? Now they are saying that it was a miscommunication on their part and to just forget about it, I got it for free, but I'll be damned if I believe them. Thankfully they texted this to me so I have it in writing.

Moral of the story: No, not all tow companies are shady but enough of them are to earn them a shit ass rep. Screw those douchelords.

 

^^
I would even talk to your employer about this, since he/she may be able to bitch out the tow company about how unprofessional they are acting. Although if it's not his lot then he may just be throwing gas on the fire.

That's if you and your boss get along well.

 

I already sent an email. The thing that irritates me is that they should have informed me of that even being possible! They've always said that its totally fine to park there and I've done it multiple times without ever having a problem before! I am guessing that its the property owner's mistake and even my employer hasn't been informed of the changes.

 

unfortunately in america you have no rights so as soon as they hook up your car its legally their property. i know, its fucked but hey this is the land of the free.

 

I have had my vehicle impounded for no reason, he took my temp pass out and threw it away then claimed it was not properly displayed, and I paid. I paid through a CC and got my money charged back with proof of current registration as well. All he had to do was admit he missed the temp pass and towed it by accident.

Tow truck drivers that do impounds are the lowest vulture in society in my opinion, feeding off of the poorest people just trying to get by.

 

Bullshit. It's not their property. They don't own title to it, and they can't obtain title to it until it's considered abandoned, which in most states is going to be 90 days. All they can do is submit paperwork to file lien on the title in the meantime, but if you somehow get the car back in that time they are fucked and can only sue you in small claims for the fees they are out. The only real power they have is the possession itself and it being on their private property.

 

They can't charge you with grand theft shit. Read my previous post. They don't own title to the car and they wouldn't have had time to have a lien placed on the title, therefore they have no LEGAL STANDING to file criminal charges for anything. The cops can't prosecute a criminal complaint for theft of property unless the complaint is brought by THE PROPERTY OWNER. That's YOU not THEM. I'd tell them to eat a dick, and they might even be civilly and criminally liable for harassment for making threats of legal action that they aren't legally authorized to make.

 

fucking do it

 

It's not Grand Theft Auto.

It's burglary. And possibly some other charge that is specifically related to stealing from an impound lot. In Virginia it's "defrauding a garage keeper"

You obviously worked in some shady ass fly-by-night impound lot since the lot in the OP soon noticed his car was missing, contacted him, and demanded payment. Apparently THEY thought it was worth "all that work" (a phone call)

 

my buddies dad has an impound lot, he said as soon as the truck driver tows it they enter the VIN and license plate number as soon as it hits the lot, it's then annotated on to a sign-in sheet so their insurance can cover any vandalism done to cars in their lot...since they have record of it and you owe the city a fine and the truck company an impound fee, if you steal your car back then you'll get brought up on grand theft auto and depending on state there are many local laws you'll be breaking too (including trespassing).

 

Seriously Tow companies can hoe though. I once had a wheel fall off, and i left it in a construction neighborhood at like 6pm with a note and my phone number. A few hours later the cops called me and told me they were towing it, and we couldn't call our own person. It got towed over 30 miles to bumfuck nowhere where I had to pay over $300 to get it out. So I payed, and the lady said I was good to go, but had to wait awhile for another truck to tow it (no front wheel), then when we are all ready to leave, this new guy at the desk says we are missing a paper, and have to drive over an hour roundtrip to get it, as well as calling another truck because the first one went home. Complete nightmare.

 

OP, go for it, wear something to disguise, like a balaclava, make sure theres no trackers or anything, good luck buddy, but i wouldnt post it on gc

 

sounds to me like they were just being dicks because all you have to do is sign a release form and pay your fee...only paperwork you need is license and registration.