he was having some work done to the parking lot and i forgot to move it before i left for vacation. i got home yesterday and it was parked out in the street, i don't know why he towed it out there, he was only fixing certain area's of the parking lot, it could've been pulled over to another spot that wasn't being worked on. he towed it from behind, the rear bumper is damaged and there's a hole in my right rear quarter because he obviously dropped it like an a$$hole without any regard to my property whatsoever. it is rusted back there but was not all fuked up like it is now. whoever he had tow it wasn't careful at all, i drove it back into the parking lot and put it back where i had it before. did he do damage to the transmission?? that's what i wanted to ask, he's expecting rent tomorrow, he may not get it. the rear bumper has rust on one side to the frame as well that i just found when i was having it inspected last month, i have to get on my back to see if he fuked anything up back there. what would you guys do, i mean i've been a tenant here for a long time and he pulls this $hit on me, he and his family have always been a pain to deal with because they do things their way and don't really care about the tenants unless they have to. any advice would be appreciated as i'm so mad i can't spit right now, i texted him with no response last night, he knows i'm pissed

 

This is likely all about how far you want to take it.

I’m not sure about personal property law in PA but I’m betting that a land owner has no rights related to accessing and/or taking possession of (even temporarily) a tenant’s personal property without due notice having been provided in writing.

Were you provided with any prior notice that your car needed to be moved and if it wasn’t moved that it’d be towed?

If not, you likely have legal recourse.

If your landlord has failed to respond to a text, make a phone call. Then send an email. Then send a letter.

Document all of your allegations and all of your attempts (dates and the means of attempting to establishing communication) to contact your landlord.

Contacting a local attorney for advice is always an option.

Contacting your local news station’s consumer help-line might work well too.

 

OP claims he was aware of work that needed to be done on the property and he forgot to move his car...and now he’s mad because he caused this entire inconvenience. Just be glad he didn’t have it towed to a yard and have you pay for towing and storage. The tow truck driver should have known better than to tow a front wheel vehicle from the rear. Now you have all the right to be mad at that.

 

For one, let’s let max-ride answer that question before we attempt to answer it for him.

Second, I’m not certain that passing someone in hall and telling them, “oh hey, by-the-way, I’m having the parking lot re-surfaced and your car ...” qualifies as proper notice and therefore entitling one to have a vehicle towed.

Eitherway, a towing company is not held harmless if they cause damage to a vehicle.

 

We aren’t trying to answer for him. He said himself in the first two sentences. How do you know the conversation happened “in the hall way”? Would you rather the landlord postpone work that he had previously scheduled for him to come back from vacation and move his car?

 

sorry guys, just getting around to answering this. i was given a notice, but all it said was that work was going to be done, know one else moved their cars and there was no set date. he just said that they would be around soon to do this. also, he had told me that the work being done was just filling a few small patches, not a whole section of the parking lot like what was done. my car was barely touching a corner of what was being done and could've easily been moved backwards into another spot away from that area instead they chose to tow it into the street and damage it, why, i have no idea. my landlord was not present, i guarantee if he was and he allowed them to do this that i will be very upset. i wouldn't be surprised at all if he was.as turbo said, they are responsible for repairing my car if damages occurred, you can't just rip a car out of a parking lot and not be held responsible.

 

he can't tow it to a yard, i am a resident. and w/e towed it should pay to fix it, period.

 

I agree, the tow company is responsible for any damages.

 

Be the squeaky wheel, and harass your landlord until he cant take it anymore. Lol.

 

That was a messed up move by the land lord at least clearly state that he wanted lot work and have all vehicles moved for the work and if not violators will be towed as the work signs always say. This was a unfriendly move on the landlord. Just give them hell to get it fixed. The car was towed from. The back and you better hope he had you in neutral and towed it because he could of dragged it in park and break the parking prawl the locking mechanism for autos.

 

Post up the written notice if you can.

I would not withhold rent at this point in time. Don't add fuel to the fire. You need to take this up with the tow truck company as well as your landlord. Settle down first though; you'll get better results with a calmer mindset.

 

yeah, i'm letting it go guys, drove the max today and no issues other than the hole in the quarter and the rear bumper paint being fuked up a little, crack on the left side and the right. i'll post pics when i can, he's a bit of a dik sometimes, and it's either his way or he *****es like the little spoiled momma's boy he is. mommy bought him a house, so i'll leave it at that. the *******......

 

I have been both tenant and landlord.. in NYC for reference

#1 DO NOT stop paying rent..
you CAN put that rent into an Escrow account and let the landlord know you have a problem with him -- rent is in escrow -- and you're going to settle it in court.. (that's a legal move that's not going to cause you any penalties etc because you are paying rent but not letting him have it until judgement/decision is made by court etc)

about the car:
- go to a body shop and get a free estimate of damage done. (tell them you got into accident expecting insurance check etc) you need quantitative $$$ for labor spelled out..

- picture of car before/after damages.. for proof

- get a statement form every tenant in the property that had seen/was present for all that work getting done witness to your car etc. (notarize if you can)

- print out the notice with no exact dates given of construction..

- Take him to small claims court (under $5000)

- present all above-mentioned evidence etc.. explain to judge you were gone, there's no exact date given, no care taken, witness statements nobody else moved their car etc..

if your landlord will not have any concrete proof against all of your claims, the case will likely go in your favor, or at least 50/50 (he will still have to pay you).

your landlord will not like you for it (FvCK HIM - he's already shown his true face), but will understand not to mess with you otherwise he's going to lose time/$$$/hassle (and that's the only language that cheap ***** understands.. when it hurts his profits/bottom line)
but keep in mind if you have a short lease.. he can easily tell you he's not going to extend it and that you have until XX/2021 to move out or he's going to call the Marshall for enforcement.. which he can legally do in retaliation.

it all depends on how you want to handle it and if you comfortable with outcome.

 

^^^ that’s some very sound advice an a excellent perspective.

I had no idea on the escrow thing ...

 

i haven't decided what i'm going to say to him yet, he hasn't stopped by for the rent which was due monday. but he often gets busy with other work he does and skips picking it up for an additional few days sometimes.

 

Bide your time. Business as usual like nothing happened. 2 years later, slash all his tires and smash his windshield. That's how I take care of things, even for other people sometimes. I am the "karma" everyone talks about. Just doin my job. Unfortunately in this day and age of broken families, no values, no community cohesion, moral turpitude abounding, every man for himself, people need to learn the hard way.

 

ummmm, no. i asked my landlord who towed it and he gave me the name. i know the guy and i'm going to take it over there friday morning for him to see and we'll talk about it. will let you guys know the outcome.

 

UPDATE: i went to the garage and first talked to the tow guy, waste of time. then the owner showed up and came out after parking his truck and started arguing with me immediately. told him i had picture proof of before and after the tow and he wanted nothing to do with me or my car. he also kept yelling at me that there was 25 years of rust in the quarter panel which was not true. had the quarter re-done a few years ago. he then proceeded to pick little pieces off of the hole that his tow guy created and i almost punched him in the face. it's pretty much what i expected from this pos, knew he wasn't going to do anything before i went there, and i know had i been home for the tow that this would've never happened. my neighbor had said the guy dropped it like a hot rock in the street and that's what created the hole. after deciding that i just wasted 15 minutes of my time, i said, " enjoy the ****ty google review your gong to get", hopped into the max and did a nice little burnout out of his $hitty little overpriced garages parking lot. what kills me is, i went in to just talk, and he acted like a complete tool yelling and acting like an a$$hole and never looking at the pictures i had, great part was is he had other customers in the waiting room who saw the way he acted and hopefully don't go back after seeing this guys true colors. i called him a few minutes later just to say that i would've appreciated a chance to talk and show him the pictures i had and he of course said there's no way that his guy could've damaged the max, moral of the story, a$$holes like this don't give a ****, when i first called him to tell him, i could hear in his voice that he was skeptical. felt good to burn out of his parking lot whilst giving him the bird, the dik.

 

So what is your next course of action?

 

i am going to give a $hitty google review, i am also going to bug him with another call stating my neighbor saw him drop it hard in the street. people like this don't deserve to be in business, period. he really thinks he's above me, that's what makes me shake my head.....

 

I was serious previously when I suggested contacting your local TV news channel’s consumer help-line.

A poor Google review is one thing.

An unflattering TV news report can put folks out of business.

 

Unbelievable..this is quickly going from “my Max was towed from behind by my landlord” to “I’m being plowed from behind by the tow company”

 

There is no reason to argue with the towing company. They always act as an a$$. Take it to small court. Let the judge decides who's at fault. Collect all evidences and present your case. My brother brought a towing company to court because they broke away (never recovered, gone) his car's rear bumper and never notified him when he picked up his car. The judge found the towing company at fault. My brother brought me there as material witnesses. I think the crucial evidence during my brother's case was landlord/towing company must notify him at least 24 hours to the specific service date. Look like your landlord/towing co. only gave you an arbitrary date range. You may have a case there. Everyone has job to do and no one has to be around to facilitate his work with a short notice.

If you know someone, neighbor, niece, nephew, friend, a college student, School often offers free legal counselings for students. You can ask him/her to ask school for advice and save cost hiring legal professionals. School/law student/special group could guide you file the paperwork too.