Bryan from San Luis Obispo's parking question

Private parking lots in Albuquerque use private firms to boot the cars of motorists who don’t pay. Owners have to pay the booter to get their car back.

I have had this same problem in my apartment complex. I just park behind the offender and go to my apartment. That car owner has to knock on all of the apartments to find me. Boy–talk about looking sheepish. But they only do it once.

This used to happen to me at my reserved spot at my apartment. It was the same person all of the time. Notes, etc. did not stop him.

Finally I took a bar of soap and wrote on his windshield, “You can not park here .” He tracked me down and told me that I made it impossible for him to drive his car safely. Of course it washed off with no permanent damage, and he never parked there again.

I think a better idea than using a length of chain and padlock to lock gates to keep them in is to run that length of chain through his front wheel and padlock it closed. let him try driving home with a padlock flailing about, tearing up his fender.

Here’s probably a naive question about tow truck companies. If you call a tow truck company to tow a car (not your own) parked on your own private property, will they come and tow it away? Who pays for the tow? And where do they tow it?

Not a naive question , George, a legal one.

In the past I’ve tried to get vehicles towed from my property.
Always, the tow company says call the police first for authorization.
The officer comes to my house and verifies that the owner will not respond in a timely manner ,
only THEN will it get towed. Impounded in the tow company yard.

Most often they chase down the owner at the next door church, bar, or laundry mat to make them move it.
( heck, I could do that. But I want to make an in their face point about their obvious stupidity. )

And THAT"S a pain in the butt waste of valuable hours. I could never get one moved in a short or hurried time period when I needed to get out NOW .

In many states in order to get a vehicle towed (even on your property) the police need to be presence.

Each state is different.

That would be the legal reason they boot , instead of tow.
They can leave the vehicle right where it was so the owner can’t cry stolen.

In my cases, I don’t want it booted , I want it MOVED. They’d be blocking the driveway access.
If it got booted I’d be blocked for days not just hours.

Astonished to hear the town involved. Wasn’t SOL designated as the nation’s mellowest town last year? I am from Back East and my Leucadia based sister took me and the MRS on a Highway 1 road trip that included San Luis Obispo. The people were mellow.

I would avoid the chain-link and padlock fence idea. Mythbusters proved it takes very little effort for a car (or hummer) to wreck a locked chain-link fence, but the damage to the car could be major, and lawsuits may insue.