Bandit Tow Truck Operators

[Nathalia]

I'm trying to find out where I can find the laws for my county as it pertains to tow truck operators.  My patrons are constantly being harassed by Bandit Tow Truck Operators and want to know what the laws actually are.  I've tried finding the laws online, but haven't found anything concrete for Horry County, SC.  However, several laws that I have found show that what these tow truck companies are doing is illegal in most states.  Is it illegal in mine too???  I have copied and pasted several examples of what I found.  Thank you in advance for your help. And once again, I am in Horry County, SC.

NUMBER 1

Under most state laws, property owners have the right to remove cars from their private parking lots after the car has been parked there for more than one hour. The property owner, representative, or agent must be present at the scene of impound to sign the authorization. "Bandit" tow truck operators have interpreted this law in a way which is financially lucrative for their companies.

If you are a victim of a "bandit" tow truck operator, remember these facts: The tow truck operator does not have a legal lien on your vehicle until it is in transit on a public highway.

If you car is already on the tow truck, but still in the parking lot, the tow operator can ask you for half of what an Official Police Garage would charge for towing. If you will not or cannot pay the requested amount, the issue becomes a civil matter, and the tow operator must release your vehicle. If the tow operator leaves the lot with your vehicle because you would not or could not pay the requested amount, the tow operator is in violation of many US State codes, which is taking a vehicle without the owner's consent. NUMBER 2

You must also lookout for what I call the Midnight Hookers. These are tow trucks that will illegally hook-up your vehicle off parking lots and tow it to their storage lot. To do this legally they must have the property owner or the owner's representative sign the tow slip at the time the vehicle is towed. They cannot sign a bunch of tow slips the next morning, or sign tow slips in advance to be filled out by the driver. In some cases the tow truck driver has a kick back deal with the security guard at the business. For each tow slip he signs the security guard gets $50. This scam also happens in the middle of the day on private parking lots.

[Godwine]

Well this will be such an answer to a question which really can get into big issues...

FIRST OF ALL, I see that you are in Horry County South Carolina which includes Myrtle Beach.

From what I hear and read in the news about that area, there are some very aggressive towing companies out there. I also have seen and heard that there are really no regulations out there controlling towing vehicles from private property. But lets look at the info you posted..  The first one looks to be from California.  Yes there are laws out there which are on the books now which are a result of vehicles "trespassing" on private property of others.  Yes they are breaking the law by parking there. Now California has hundreds of vehicle laws regarding what can and can not be done, and some of them are real good, and some are really restricting the rights of property owners while granting rights to the motorists to break laws and trespass. Think about this scenario here.  I am going to guess that you are a bar owner and your lot has parking for 15 vehicles. But the grocery store next door has parking for over 100 cars. Yes they close at 8PM and the lot is empty then.  Does that give people the rights to park there since there is no way they can be a customer of the store when it is closed. Remember as a business owner you have to have a business location which means you buy it, make payments, pay for insurance to protect your property, you maintain it(pave, paint, clean, sweep) and all that... Now if you are the bar owner and the grocery store parking lot is on the left side of your business and there is a 24 hour laundry mat that has no parking at all on your right. Can the laundry mat customers park in your bar parking lot to do their business elsewhere next door and not patronize you ?

Back to the issues you posted from other areas. Yes property owners do have rights to have the unrestricted access to their property. So most every state has laws where either the police can have the vehicle removed for illegal parking by issuing a ticket and having it towed at the owners expense(Minnesota comes to mind right of the bat here)

Now as I said earlier, California also has laws which are bad for the property owner and good for motorists who want to break the laws... Look at VC 22953 where in certain cases vehicles which are trespassing are required to be left for 1 hour before it can be towed.( http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22953.htm   )

How would you feel as a business owner how has to leave vehicles for one hour before they can be removed from your property. What would you feel like if you came home and someone was parked in your driveway and you could not park there and you could not have it removed for an hour or more ???

Now as to the second comment, that sounds more like an "anti towing" site where you will find a lot of statements which are not true or factual...I can point out dozens of them online and some of them are down right slanderous to tow truck drivers. For every good comment about tow truck drivers and tow companies there is one for bad things.  Everyone loves to complain, and tow companies do have a huge image problem, but remember when your car broke down and had to get to the repair shop? Who did the tow? It might of been the same tow company who towed you last week because you parked illegally and the tow to the dealer might be done under some motor club which that same tow company contracts services to.

Yes there are some companies /drivers who break the laws regarding towing vehicles from private property, but remember that the tow company did not park the vehicle there. The tow company is there because of the "perceived need" by the property owner to retain control of his or her property. Now as I said at the beginning your county does have some laws online in the Municode.com website, and so does Myrtle Beach. But I could not find "specific towing laws" regarding removing vehicles from private property. I did find references to "police ordered tows" and to stuff about towing from the airport. Here is the "county law link"    (http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=10129&sid=40)

So does all this help?

Not really for what you are looking for. And by comparing and saying that other area laws should apply is just plain wrong, and can be dangerous and even costly. For example, going back to the bar issue, you are in South Carolina and I am in Alabama.  I suppose that you as a bar owner sell beer with 13% or better alcohol content...Down here in Alabama, they "JUST" passed a law allowing 13% beer.  So if you are selling it in SC, I guess I could complain that you are breaking Alabama law and have you fined for doing something illegal... Get the point I am trying to make?

So how do you solve the problem ?

Educate your customers about where they can park and make up some signs which say something like "if you parked at XXX grocery store, you will be towed" Yes they have to read signs but that is a whole different issue here.   And why should you as a property owner warn your customers that they might be towed ???  Well if they get towed they might not come back and you would lose business.

Now another thing you can do is, to talk to the other property owner and see if you can work out a deal for parking... That might help...

Or you can work real hard and get both local and state laws changed to where people can not get towed from private property they do not own...  

Sorry for the long response, but its one of those questions and answers which can get involved...