Ok, wtf... seriously car legal issue

[equate975]

Ok, this is fucked up IMO, and I have no idea how this is legal or could happen.

So, my sister has a friend that lives with us. Her parents move around a lot and she didn't want to leave schools etc so she lives with us. Now, her and my sister go to school a few hours away, live in the dorms etc...

She had a 96 jeep that she would drive back to town now and again, but barely ever drove it any other time. Lived, slept, and ate at school. She had a pass to a parking lot where the car sat all the time.

Now, she just found this out maybe 4 days ago, but her car was CRUSHED. Not towed, not impounded, CRUSHED FOR SCRAP METAL....

Heres how it went, for some reason the school thought her car was "abandoned" for some reason. I really have no idea why, but aside from anything they towed it. Even though there was a parking pass on the car. So the car gets towed March 11th.

Now march 17th they impound lot sends a letter to the owner, which is her dad. Well they moved (again) and the letter got rejected and sent back, so he never heard about this. So then the impound lot calls the bank because they see theres a lien on the car. The bank says that they will call them back the next day, which they don't. Between that time, and now, no contact was made with anyone and they (the towing company) crushed the car for scrap metal. So obviously the car is long gone by now.

Now the towing company barely made any effort to find the person who drove it. If they opened the glove you could easily find the insurance card with her name on it, or call the school and give them the parking pass # to notify her.

This whole thing seems fucked up as hell to me. Why the hell didn't the school call her to even ask if it was abandoned? Or call her to tell her it was towed??? I would think it would be logical to look at the parking pass # to see which student owns it... And why the fuck did the towing company just crush the damn thing? I still don't know when exactly it was crushed since she found out about this whole ordeal just a few days ago.

Now the best part is I talked to a lawyer, and they said that I can't really do anything. Seems pretty fucked up to me, that someone can just take a car, barely make any attempt to find the owner, then just crush the fuckin thing. There were plenty of ways to find who owned it, but they didn't do anything. I don't know who the hell to be pissed at, the school for towing it originally and not notifying the student, the towing company for not trying to find the owner then crushing it, or the bank who never called back to tell the towing company who owned it.

Anyone ever heard of anything like this??? It seems so outlandish to me that it doesn't even sound true, but it is. What really sucks is now she owes a few grand on a car thats been crushed.

[E-Thirty]

Didn't know they crushed cars with license plates and insurance.

[equate975]

Yeah, I still have no clue as to what possessed anyone to think it was abandoned. Since when to abandoned cars have current reg, plates, insurance, and a parking pass in a school lot??

[E-Thirty]

That sucks dude, there has to be something she can do.

[atomic]

Seems like the school would be at fault since they knew what courses she was taking and could have tried to make contact that way as well other than sending a letter to her parents old address. IMHO I would still obtain a lawyer, surely there is one that will take this case.

[equate975]

Yeah, I think me and a few buddies might chip in and get her a new car. I just did a quick search on craigslist and found some decent audis for under $600. I have an assload of parts for them so I can fix one up just to get her though summer. Next school year shes gonna take my sisters car, so I can just part the audi out then.

[golde30]

if the bank admits that they spoke to some1 from the impound lot and did nothing, then i would tell them they are responsible for it getting crushed and they can go stick that car note up their ass.

[delfin]

Is the bank still trying to charge you for the lien?

[equate975]

As far as I know yes they are

[kansas-ix]

as a lawyer i say talk to another lawyer, write a demand letter to the school, the bank and the tow company.
Call the car in stolen! Act like you haven't talked to any of these people, and claim stolen, then call police and tell them you heard blank tow company crushed the car, bam! police up in the tow companies asses. That and a demand letter for the value of the car to the tow company, should get some action.
Or call the tow company and tell them you talked to a lawyer and have a great case and tell them it is gonna cost them a shit ton, and they better get a good lawyer or then tell them instead of spending all that money on a lawyer they can just write you a check for the value of the vehicle. Put is this way option 1) fight my lawyer and spend $$$$$$ and lose or write me a check for the car and just spend $$.
Report to insurance company as stolen, they will never find it now lol.
Lastly call a better lawyer.

[motorsports_3]

as a lawyer i say talk to another lawyer, write a demand letter to the school, the bank and the tow company.
Call the car in stolen! Act like you haven't talked to any of these people, and claim stolen, then call police and tell them you heard blank tow company crushed the car, bam! police up in the tow companies asses. That and a demand letter for the value of the car to the tow company, should get some action.
Or call the tow company and tell them you talked to a lawyer and have a great case and tell them it is gonna cost them a shit ton, and they better get a good lawyer or then tell them instead of spending all that money on a lawyer they can just write you a check for the value of the vehicle. Put is this way option 1) fight my lawyer and spend $$$$$$ and lose or write me a check for the car and just spend $$.
Report to insurance company as stolen, they will never find it now lol.
Lastly call a better lawyer.

Thats perfect, I would do all this. Dont let this just slide, thats BS.

[P12od]

Only one way to do this.and i know you already thought about this. go Grand theft auto crazy and shoot that mother Fker UP!

[mkymonkey]

as a lawyer i say talk to another lawyer, write a demand letter to the school, the bank and the tow company.
Call the car in stolen! Act like you haven't talked to any of these people, and claim stolen, then call police and tell them you heard blank tow company crushed the car, bam! police up in the tow companies asses. That and a demand letter for the value of the car to the tow company, should get some action.
Or call the tow company and tell them you talked to a lawyer and have a great case and tell them it is gonna cost them a shit ton, and they better get a good lawyer or then tell them instead of spending all that money on a lawyer they can just write you a check for the value of the vehicle. Put is this way option 1) fight my lawyer and spend $$$$$$ and lose or write me a check for the car and just spend $$.
Report to insurance company as stolen, they will never find it now lol.
Lastly call a better lawyer.

i dont know how it would work where you're at BUT in the state of California, any abandoned or derelict vehicle left on private property may be towed at owners expense by the property management or owners of said property. the towing companies responsibility is to tow the vehicle and call the local authorities, the police department from where the vehicle was impounded, and report it as a ppi, private party impound. this is done so that people cannot call vehicles in as stolen after the fact that they were towed. also believe it or not, the tow company has a set amount of time in which to call the vehicle in, pretty much so that the owner of the vehicle has no chance to call the car in as stolen before the tow company calls it in as a ppi.

ANYWAY after the vehicle is impounded, the tow companies responsibility is to send a registered letter to the legal owners and registered owners of the vehicle within 48 hours of the tow. Within 72 hours the vehicle is to be Liened. now, in the state of california a vehicle worth less than $300 can be put on a 15 day lien, for vehicles over $300 and under $4000 a 30-35 day lien is required, over $4000 a 100 day lien is then set. the reason they need to post a lien on the vehicle is so that when that they can get rid of vehicles that are not picked up from their tow yard. most cars are put on a 30 day lien so they are in and out fairly quickly. now ALL THAT IS REQUIRED BY THE TOW COMPANY to notify the owner of the car is the REGISTERED LETTER and the LIEN, NOTHING ELSE. i mean if they did detective work on their own...then that means that the people working there actually have traces of a heart...other wise they simply don't care since they work with many many many cases that are alike. if a vehicle is actually worth something to the bank, they pick it up. otherwise most banks simply write them off.

it really sucks what happened to your friend, but i wanted to post why tow companies do what they do (at least in California) to maybe help you not waste your time. of course if your laws are similar to ours.

if you would like to check out the actual section of cali law for towing its CVC22658a and CVC22500.1

my .02

[sam3]

I don't know what the laws are in that State but I'm guessing the College has had to deal with abandoned property in the past, it's pretty common at the end of the term. As long as they followed the laws regarding notification of the apparent owner at the last-known-address; ultimately, the tow company can dispose of the property however they see fit, after they've gone through the proper procedures to legally claim ownership. The tow bill becomes another lien, the tow company is the lien-holder, viola!, it's their car.
If the bank decided to write off their note because it wasn't worth the storage/tow fees, they simply don't claim an interest in the vehicle when presented with the option.

[blunttech]

was she ridin dirty?