So the office I work in shares a parking lot with three or four other businesses. We have two designated spots for our six employees. Two other businesses have a few spots that get used up. That leaves one business with control of the rest of the parking lot (about 8 spots). These spots are never filled yet they insist on enforcing their control over them. I got a hand written letter on my car threatening to tow it the next time I park there.
So my question is: How exactly would that work? Can you just call up a tow company and have them come pick up a random car? Are they even allowed to do that? Do you think they will do it? Does the tow truck company charge them money as well as taking money from the guy who gets towed?
The parking lot is private property. If the business has authority over the parking spaces, they have the right to tow people, assuming other regulations are met, such as posting notice, etc. Unauthorized parking is trespass, though, so they are within their rights.
Usually what happens is that the police will come and write a ticket for the car that is parked illegally, and then the towing company will be allowed to move the car.
Note that in many places, improperly towing a car can make you liable for towing fees and damages caused by towing. I have seen this happen when people have towed their neighbor’s car, claiming it was their own, off of a public street. Imagine that the neighbor parks his car on your front yard. The police will be happy to assist you in getting the car towed.
I’ve never had to deal with the police before having a car towed, but I’ve always been in places where we had a pre-existing arrangement with the towing company and there were signs up making it clear where you could park and that Company X would be called to tow you if you didn’t follow the rules. In each case, the tow company charged only the owner of the car.
I even had to tow the car of a mother of the bride, when she not only ignored signs warning about freshly painted lines, but threw the sign on top of our bushes. (I won’t turn this into a long story, but let’s just say this was part of a pattern of behavior). Boy was she pissed… but when the police showed up, the only issue they would address was the fact that she threatened to kill me. They never questioned the towing and they took notes in case we wanted to sue for the cost of repainting.