How many times have you parked your car in a perfectly reasonable spot only to find it gone after you return from your errands? It is an unfortunate part of life in Miami. Towing companies all over the city regularly tow vehicles that they have no right to tow, and these companies also add illegal charges to the bill when drivers go to pick up their cars. But is there something you could do to keep this from happening to your car?
Can Illegal Towing In Miami Be Stopped?
A report by Local 10 News in Miami recently uncovered that city-approved companies were overcharging the people that they were towing. An audit by the station showed upcharges, time charges and unexplained charges that were forbidden by agreements made with the city. After exposing these overcharges, the news report also discovered that police efforts to control these towing companies were lacking. However, exposure has forced change.
Will New Changes Affect Towing In Miami?
Months after the report, newscasters found that a few of the towing businesses had changed their ways, and the Miami Police Department also beefed up their efforts to monitor towing companies. The police added more officers to the towing enforcement unit and upgraded their computer software. That means that calling the police could help you when a towing company rips you off, but that’s not the only way you can make sure these companies pay for their misdeeds.
Are There Other Protections From Towing Scams?
In Miami Beach, Tremont Towing—a company featured on the reality TV show South Beach Tow—was served with a lawsuit for their own towing misdeeds. A member of one of Miami’s most influential families was parked in a private bank parking lot—after hours—when a truck from Tremont Towing took his car. The man had to pay $241 to get his vehicle back, but he was also sure that he had been wronged when the towing company took his car, and he was right.
In Miami-Dade County, property owners have to individually authorize the towing of a vehicle from private property. When the man’s car was towed from the bank parking lot, the company had not authorized the tow with the property owner. Colson Hicks Eidson has taken on this case and has opened a class action lawsuit against Tremont for illegally towing this man’s vehicle. The plaintiff and attorney hope others who have been wronged by this company will come forward and join the lawsuit.
Do you think this class action suit will reveal even more cases of illegal towing? Come to our Facebook and Twitter pages and let us know.
