i have a friend in the HEB area who had his truck stolen. He reported it to the proper authorities. Truck was abandoned andrecovered by a private tow company. Now the want like 2 grand to release it from their yard. He can't afford that. They are threatening to auction it. The amount they want keeps increasing the longer it sits. Any recourse for him?

bobo said:

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i have a friend in the HEB area who had his truck stolen. He reported it to the proper authorities. Truck was abandoned andrecovered by a private tow company. Now the want like 2 grand to release it from their yard. He can't afford that. They are threatening to auction it. The amount they want keeps increasing the longer it sits. Any recourse for him?

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I'm not a lawyer, but my advice would be to take the story to the Star-Telegram or the Morning News. The towing company's conduct may be strictly legal, but it's so outrageous that if the story gets out, they might release the truck just to make the bad publicity go away.

This actually happens a lot. Car is stolen and driven to, say, an apartment complex. It's looted.

The apartment complex doesn't allow unauthorized vehicles, so their tow company is called. The tow company just drags the car to their storage lot. Since they don't have access to the DMV records of who the owner is, they can't contact anyone.

Eventually, the cops find the license plate and determine the owner. The owner is called, but the tow company wants all that money to release the vehicle.

The best option is insurance. If your friend had comprehensive insurance, and the police validate the theft, then his insurance will likely reimburse most if not all of that expense as part of the theft claim.

Obviously, the details matter. It sucks, but it's hard to fault anyone involved. The tow company has to do their job, or there wouldn't be anywhere for the residents to park. They have money invested and have to pay their driver and people. Yes, tow and impound fees are infuriating and maybe too high, but they're just following the rules too.

Why are all the private impound lots playing Stairway to Heaven when I arrive?