Wash. House passes tow truck anti-gouging bill
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The Washington state House of Representatives has passed a measure to cap tow truck fees.
Under the bill passed Saturday, tow truck companies could charge up to about $270 to tow a vehicle and impound it for half a day and another $60 for storage per day thereafter.
Currently, the Washington State Patrol sets limits on how much tow truck drivers contracting with it can charge for their services. There are no such limits on tow truck operators contracting with private property owners, however.
Rep. Gerry Pollet, a Seattle Democrat, is the bill sponsor. He said it would stop the practice of tow truck operators charging in some cases more than $1,000 for their services.
The bill passed by a vote of 91-7 and heads next to the Senate.
Under the bill passed Saturday, tow truck companies could charge up to about $270 to tow a vehicle and impound it for half a day and another $60 for storage per day thereafter.
Currently, the Washington State Patrol sets limits on how much tow truck drivers contracting with it can charge for their services. There are no such limits on tow truck operators contracting with private property owners, however.
Rep. Gerry Pollet, a Seattle Democrat, is the bill sponsor. He said it would stop the practice of tow truck operators charging in some cases more than $1,000 for their services.
The bill passed by a vote of 91-7 and heads next to the Senate.
Different states have different laws. In Washington you can retrieve your vehicle 24/7. If you can't get your car out you are allowed to get your personal belongings. If you feel your car was illegally impounded, you have the right to an impound hearing. So Tattooed_Angel2 you would have been able to take it to court and the store would have had to reimburse you.Â
As a Washington Tower, I think some people need to know that the lobbyist for the Towing and Recovery Association of Washington is trying to get the bill passed. There are only a few tow companies that charge the outrageous rates that give all tow companies a bad reputation. I am in favor of the caps. As for getting ripped off by the tow companies you have to remember that we are only performing a service. The property owner is the one who has the car impounded. We don't go looking for illegally parked cars because it is against the law to patrol tow. I think people should be educated in the laws we have to follow before they make a comment.Â
I'm glad that there are putting caps on tow fees but those numbers still seem excessive to me.
I got ripped off by a tow company once. My car broke down on a Friday night commute home and I was able to get it to a gas station. It was dark and my stepdad wasn't able to get it home for me until the next day so I got permission from the gas station manager to leave it and come back for it the next morning. However the manager forgot to pass that info along to the next shift. My car got towed around 6am Saturday and when I got a hold of the tow company around 8am they said that I wouldn't be able to pick it up until Monday morning when someone was in the office. Oh, and I was being charged for storage on the weekend days that they wouldn't let me pick up my car.Â
The total came to $546 for the tow and 2 days storage. I was LIVID... like "see-red-foaming-at-the-mouth-beat-someone's-arse-FURIOUS." I wanted to leave the POS car there, but I had belongings in my car that I needed and the tow company wouldn't let me retrieve them.Â
The manager of the gas station admitted that he had given me permission to park there and forgot to pass that along, but they refused to pay for my tow bill. I could probably sue them and win, but it just seems like too much hassle.Â
Good! I'm glad to hear it. It's been my experience that most tow truck companies have the same business practices with pimps and loan sharks and it's about time they got their collective butts pulled up short.
In my family's case, our car got stolen. The police eventually found the car, but because I was at work I could not immediately retrieve the car from where they found it. Furthermore, the SOB's who stole it left it in a non-driveable condition. So instead of letting me get off of work and arrange to have my car towed to a shop to be fixed, they called one of their tow companies. I show up two and a half hours later and was charged $500 to get my car out of their lot. Out-frikkin-rageous.
$60 a day for storage? Still way to high. $5 to $8 a day is plenty.
@Blindman Maybe in Goldbar. Many impound lots are in-city and the land is outrageously expensive/taxed due to perceived "value". Thus, the daily rate is similar to parking lots ($8-20 for 6-10hrs depending). Still, $60 is a d*mn site better than some were charging.
Having been in the automotive business for many years I have heard of many stories about peoples cars being impounded and having to pay an outrageous amount to get their car back. There are some companies that have went to the extreme with charges while others use good common practices to set their fees. If one parks where they should not then they should have to pay a fee to get their car back, but charges near a $1,000.00 are insane and unwarranted. I am glad the state has finally set some limits on those that think impounding a car is a free ride to rape someone.
While the good Rep. Gerry Pollet is at it pandering to the people, why not make it free? If you are going to steal legally, do it big. What happened to freedom of choice, freedom to contract?
Wow, amazing, the politicians did something right for a change! It's about time.Â
@Glen Restricting freedom of contract???
@contraryjim "Restricting freedome of contract???" NOPE. How about keeping citizens from getting RIPPED OFF!
Wish the Democratic Sponsor of this bill would apply the same common sense to tax gouging.
'bout time
It'll be interesting to see if Boeing tows fewer cars now that there is a cap on the fees. No more sharing!
@factchekr Interesting thought... maybe private property owners should be required to pay a small but significant fee (at least $20-$30 perhaps) simply for having a vehicle removed by a tow company - a fee paid either to the government or perhaps into a fund to indemnify those whose vehicles are impounded improperly, especially where secondary harm accrues. The idea would be to make it just a little less attractive for a business to be "trigger-happy" on towing. And absolutely prohibit any payment by the tow operator to the property owner!
In Washington State it is against the law for a tower to compensate a property owner for an impound.
@JLS1950 @factchekr Where do you live I have a few vehicles I would like to park on your lawn
You can have a car towed off of residential property immediately. You do not have to have signs posted and it doesn't have to be there for any amount of time. It is commercial properties that have to have signs posted to have a car immediately towed. If they don't have signs posted the car has to be there at least 24 hours.
@livinintheNW @JLS1950 @factchekr I was thinking more of commercial parking lots where someone might think they had a right to park. Actually, as I recall it can actually be half a bloody nightmare to get someone else's car towed off your own residential property (unless posted.) Most folk just push them onto the street near a fireplug.
$270?!! how about half that! $135 seems more than fair for a tow and few hours of storage.
And I thought $30 a day at the airport was high.
How about the house pass a tax anti-gouging bill?Â
@Ken Willy How about you realize that taxes are part of life.  Want roads, firemen, officers, libraries, schools?  They aren't free.
Still waaay to high!
About time! My daughters car was stolen when they found it they gave me 20 minutes to get to Tacoma from Everett or they would tow. $250 buck later I got her car out of tow. So she was ripped off twice, once from the car thief and second by the tow company.Â
How can you say the tow company ripped her off. They were only performing a service. They didn't ask to have the car, they were called out by law enforcement.
@Grumpa They can charge up to $270. You got off cheap, paying "only" $250.
Now that the tow truck companies are awakened by the passage in the House of Representatives of a bill that limits their gouging, their special interests will use their lobbyists influence to quash the bill. Â End of story.Â
Our Towing Association lobbyist is trying to get the bill passed. Most towers are in favor of the caps. Not all towers are crooks.
Good. Â It does NOT cost them anything near what they suggest to tow the car and store it.
They had a license to print their own money without anyone regulating to make sure people were protected.
Finally our lawmakers did something RIGHT for a change.
This is an improvement, but still a crime.The initial towing charge is still too high for the average car.On top of that, $60 per day to sit in some muddy lot is absolutely beyond any reasonable amount.These charges hurt the poor and usually deprive them of their only means of transportation along with running up an enormous bill, often way beyond the value of the car which will follow them forever.$150 for the tow, plus $10 per day, capped at $100 would be reasonable.This is a step in the right direction, but still unreasonable.
I think you are forgetting the fact that the vehicle owner parked illegally or it wouldn't have been impounded. Just because they are poor doesn't give them the right to park anywhere they want.
270 for tow truck service??? We need to cut this to no more than 150 and 30 per day thereafter.
@NickM1979 What about the "Free Market" and competition sorting it out?
@T_BONE_WALKER@NickM1979""Free Market" and competition sorting it out?"
I've heard the same argument given by the Mafia regarding loan sharks...
@T_BONE_WALKERÂ @NickM1979Â There is no choice in a cartel of service providers. Just victims and highway robbery.
@T_BONE_WALKER@NickM1979
Free market only works when you have a market and a choice.The victims of towing have no choice.
$270 to tow is still too much and $60 per day is unreasonable. While this is a step in the right direction, Olympia's work will not be complete until we reach 1/2 of the current proposal.
When you abuse the system this is what happens.Â
@NW-Economist Really? How about an anti gouging bill for the financial sector? It all depends on who you are whether or not abusing the system has any consequences or not. Go ask John Corzine for his take on it.
@T_BONE_WALKERI didn't say it was fair or unfair, just saying this is the result.Â
Looks like the tow truck company lobbyists didn't have pockets as deep as oil companies and the other special pets of our government. Boo freakin hoo.
Our Tow Association lobbyist is trying to get the bill passed. There are many towers in favor of the caps.