Return-Path: Received: from U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa18741; 16 Nov 93 9:41:28 EST Received: from U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU by U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU id aa09963; 16 Nov 93 9:40:54 EST From: Tim Freeman To: bovik@U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Dealing with the tow pound Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 09:40:50 EST Message-ID: <9961.753460850@U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU> Sender: Timothy_Freeman@U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU In the first summary I sent, I omitted my original query. Please replace it with this: I received these responses to my request for help dealing with the tow pound. The certified letter I got from the tow pound implies that the only action they can take if I don't pay is selling my car, and I plan to let them do that. I have heard rumors of people from CMU going to court when their car is towed because of no-parking signs that are put up while they are on vacation, and they got nowhere. Tim Newsgroups: cmu.cs.general,pgh.general,cmu.ece.general From: tsf@CS.CMU.EDU (Timothy Freeman) Subject: Dealing with Pgh Tow Pound Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 21:35:09 -0500 While I was on vacation recently, the city of Pittsburgh towed my car because I parked it on a street that they clear out when there is a football game. The car is worth less to me than the fee they want to get it out of the pound, so I'd rather let them keep it. Some questions arise: 1. If I get another car, will they boot or tow that car because of tickets I have on the one in the pound? 2. Does Pittsburgh do anything to collect tickets on cars other than boot them or tow them? Right now, the only tickets I have are $39 for the football game, $7 for street cleaning, and $170 for towing and car storage at the pound. The $170 fee is constantly increasing, and my current plan is to pay them nothing more than the car they already have. 3. How long should I expect them to hassle me before they give up? Please respond to me, and I'll post a summary. If you want me to remove your name or omit your response from the summary, let me know. I also plan to send a summary to Professor Bovik for inclusion in his archives; let me know if you want me to omit your response from this summary. By the way, the pound will use misdirection to avoid telling you over the phone that they have your car. There is really no point in calling them except to get directions so you can visit. The police told me that my car was in the pound after I reported it stolen, but it took them a day, which increased the storage fee. Best strategy is to head for the pound at once the moment you know your car is missing. Take keys, a driver's license, and an owner's card (registration). -- Tim Freeman Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 10:44:23 EST From: Peter Shell To: tsf@CS.CMU.EDU Subject: re: car pound Tim, I've been through what happened to you *several* times. I used to have old, beat-up cars and the city used to tow them away very frequently - I guess I was just unlucky and careless. Anyway, when it got to the point where I didn't feel like retrieving my car again, I would just leave it at the pound and forget about it, and buy another one (I'm talking about paying $100 for one, $500 for another and getting another for free). That's right, they have three of my old cars! But when they took the car, it seemed to wipe my slate clean. I never got hassled because of fines owed due to previous cars. So I wouldn't worry about it - they'll eventually just sell your car at a police auction to recover whatever fees you owe. In fact, you can probably even go to the auction and buy it back for possible less than your tickets! --Pete Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 10:55:29 EST From: mlm@FUZINE.MT.CS.CMU.EDU (Michael Mauldin) To: tsf@CS.CMU.EDU (Timothy Freeman) Subject: Re: Dealing with Pgh Tow Pound Note, I'm not a lawyer, but I would guess that you owe them the money for storage whether they keep your car or not. Just playing ostrich and leaving them the car will not keep them from running up as high a bill as they like. I'd go find a good lawyer real fast. Hyatt legal will give you 30 minutes for $20 (maybe higher, now). --Fuzzy Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 18:27:19 EST To: tsf@cs.cmu.edu (Timothy Freeman) Subject: Dealing with Pgh Tow Pound Tim, My old Rabbit was towed away about three months ago... I haven't heard anything from the Pound since (in fact, I never even received a Letter of Imminent Towing, which I think they are supposed to send first). The fact that the address on my license is two moves out of date might have something to do with it :) I've been wanting to look into the City of Pgh statutes that govern towing, to see if there are steps they are required to take but didn't. I haven't had the time, but I expect that either the Pitt Law Library or the Carnegie Pennsylvania Room would have the relevant info. At any rate, please let me know what you find out (posting a summary would be great). Cheers, Anonymous P.S. Feel free to use my msg in a summary or Bovik entry, but I'd prefer it remain anonymous. Thanks... From: Dean Benjamin Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:49:08 EST To: Timothy Freeman Subject: Re: Dealing with Pgh Tow Pound My sympathies, Tim! My one experience with the Tow Pound a few years back was infuriating, and renders for me totally credible the charges leveled this summer by the City Controller, that the Pound has been a cesspool of corruption facilitated by sloppy accounting and political cronyism. My car was stolen, abandoned at a parking meter in Shadyside, and eventually towed for accumulated parking tickets. It took the Pound&Police two days to notify me of the recovery, which added $70 to the storage fee. (Subsequent to this year's scandal, the $35/day fee has been reduced, I believe.) Because I was unaware of the steep storage fee -- the police didn't mention it -- I dallied another two expensive days before going downtown, where the city comPounded my injury with two insults. First, the Pound accepted *only* cash for payment, necessitating a mile-or-so hike to a money machine. (A policy allowing easy embezzlement. Again, after the scandal, they now accept credit cards as well; but I think no personal checks.) Second, it turned out that the car was stored not at the Downtown lot -- the only site at which they would accept payment -- but at a satellite lot on West Liberty Ave. I couldn't make it out there that afternoon, so they had rung up (wrung out?) another $35 when I claimed my car the following morning. Moral: Expect the bureaucratic worst. The minute you discover your car is missing, call the Pound to ascertain (1) how much you owe, (2) what forms of payment are acceptable and where payment is accepted, (3) where your car is actually parked, and (4) operating hours at both that lot as well as the payment site. Retrieve your car as soon as you can afford to -- the meter will be spinning. Oh, and vote to re-elect the incumbent City Controller (Flaherty, I think?). To: Timothy Freeman Subject: Re: Dealing with Pgh Tow Pound Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 9:05:59 EST From: michal@GS58.SP.CS.CMU.EDU Hey, I'd like to hear any reponses you get. I have only one ticket, and I'm thinking whether to pay it or not As for your towed car, I can only offer this trivial suggestion: you can try going to a judge or whomever else and plead that you were unaware that parking was prohibited there, because you were away and you weren't notified before going away. Perhaps you can agree on some cheap way of getting your car back, especially since the city won't get much money from selling it. Even if this doesn't work, it won't cost you anything, so why not try? Good luck, Michal