“Car Towed From Private Property”

A car that I was planning on scrapping was parked on private property, the car had a license plate on it. There were absolutely no signs displayed that said the car can not be parked there. I received a parking ticket from the city of Toronto saying my car had been towed by a company and the fine would be $135/ per day. Since I only go to my office once every 3 weeks, I only found out about this now. Basically my car has been in the tow yard for 3.5 weeks.

When I returned I noticed a sign was put up saying Unauthorized cars will be towed at owners expense municipal section 915.

I do not want the car back, it's worth nothing. The car is registered to my incorporated company and not me personally. My car has been in storage for about 3 weeks now and I'm sure the towing fine jacked to at least $3,000.00

My questions:

a) does the tow truck company / police have to send you registered notice?

b) what will happen if I don't pay the tow truck storage fee? Will it just keep running?

c) is there some type of grace period after a sign has been put up?

d) Unauthorized cars (seems vague) I work in the building and am technically authorized

e) if I take the parking ticket to court and win, would the towing company need to release my car?

f) any other advice you can offer?

g) how long does a towing company need to wait before they sell your car?

I am having a paralegal call them on Monday to see what their position is. I'm really nervous about this, any advice would be great.

I am unfamiliar with Toronto by-laws, and I'm certain they differ from where I am.

I'll just say that typically . . . only certain towing companies are authorized by the city to remove vehicles. The type of property matters. For example, if someone parks their car in your driveway at home, you can easily have them towed. Shared occupancy parking for residential and commercial then differ. Often there are requirements for signage, notification, etc. The towing companies who are authorized by the city, know all those rules and usually over-adhere to them and its hard to get someone towed from there because the last thing that company wants is to lose that contract.

I imagine there was several notices posted on your car.

You are not in a very good position . . .

Rather than spend 3k or more on lawyers, I'd see if some compromise can be made with the towing company. Seek out their needs . . . cover their costs . . . the car as scrap might be worth a couple hundred. Negotiate like you still wanted the car LOL 'I was away during for some holidays for a couple weeks . . . now I don't have my car'. If you are lucky they will just take the car off your hands (maybe even let you into the yard to remove personal belongings).

Best of luck.