Has anyone else been towed by these motherfuckers? They are real shitheads!

Multiple times. They make half of their money trolling parking lots. So if your kid goes to their friend's townhouse and the dumbass friend doesn't tell your kid that they need a permit because their dumbass parents didn't tell them, then you, being the dumbass parent, are out $150. Bullshit!!

They are just thieving, had a car towed by them called the hoa - they said that they required a photo of the car in a towable space in their contract. I called Battlefield Towing and the first time I hear " the person with the photos on her laptop has left for the day". I stop there several times - no photo - because they never had one. The cost to me was $150. These people have the right to steal and I am not sure what can be done? They know that it is not worth it for most people to take them to court for $150. The police want nothing to do with it even though they drive through my neigborhood doing 50mph. Scumbags of the first order.

Does Battlefield drive trucks with white colored cabs?

As for towing companies to watch out for, avoid "Henry's" at ANY cost. Their yard is off of Route 7 right next to the 7-Eleven (It's either Vienna or Reston). I've seen them pull more BS on people that you can even imagine. Predatory like hell.

There are signs posted at the entrance to these lots that have towing. We live in a area where one must always be cognizant of that. There is currently nothing that can be done to the tow company for removing your car from private property. There is no way to make your vehicle "tow proof" I have been towed a lot in this area. Battlefield was actually kind to me. They still charged me full price. The thing to remember is they are people with a job to do as well. Nobody likes their job so they approach them very nasty.

In most HOAs, parking is limited, and most homeowners or tenants have reserved spaces. The spaces are clearly marked. but that doesn't seem to deter people who use as their defense, "I only planned to park there for a little while."

More than a few times I drove into my court with several bags of groceries only to find a car parked in my reserved space and the nearest parking space a block away on the street. Usually I would just park behind them while unloading my groceries. If the owner didn't return by the time I was finished, I had no choice but to park on the street. It got old in a hurry.

We now have HUGE signs at the entrance of each court that clearly says Parking by Permit Only - Towing Enforced. We used to post a warning notice on the windshield and couldn't tow until the second offense, but the laws changed and allow immediate towing when posted, as long as the local police department had a letter on file.

Parking in my HOA is a much more pleasant experience now - at least for the homeowners and tenants.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2009 08:25AM by RestonLass.

While someone taking my spot can be a pain, I've found 100% will call me and tell me it has been freed up if I leave a note. I rather they have the $100 than the tow company.

The only ones I'm willing to sacrifice are Comcast trucks. Tell them it is a truck and they'll make sure to send something big enough to tow it!

I've heard (on here, I think) that if you park close to another car and cut your wheels, they can't tow. Pulling your car out would cause it to hit the adjacent car.

Any truth to this?

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

Towing companies are like the police. If you don't want to deal with them...then don't fucking park there!

Walking from a leagl parking space will not kill you....in fact, it's good for you! And much cheaper!

canderson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While someone taking my spot can be a pain, I've
> found 100% will call me and tell me it has been
> freed up if I leave a note. I rather they have
> the $100 than the tow company.
>
> The only ones I'm willing to sacrifice are Comcast
> trucks. Tell them it is a truck and they'll make
> sure to send something big enough to tow it!


If it's infrequent, it's a different thing. On my court, it was happening regularly and no one seemed to know who owned the car or who they were visiting. Tempers started to flare, and something had to be done.

Now, each home gets 2 guest passes that can be displayed on the dash - with house number on it. Between the guest passes and the sign, the parking situation has become much better.

If someone mistakenly parks in my spot, with a pass on the dash, I know who they are visiting and can stop by and ask them to move their car. No big deal.

If they don't have a pass, or storing with dead tags, I don't have a problem recommending they be towed.

I dont know about Battlefield, but I had to deal with Outlaw Towing. Talk about a rip not only was it $150 to get my car out but they stole about $500 worth of stuff from my car.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've heard (on here, I think) that if you park
> close to another car and cut your wheels, they
> can't tow. Pulling your car out would cause it to
> hit the adjacent car.
>
> Any truth to this?

No. There is no way to make your car un-towable. There are things called go-jacks that can move your car any direction to free it for removal. Dollies can be placed under the rear while the lift under the front taking the whole vehicle off the ground if needed. Trucks can load at 90degrees the technology for towing equipment is really something. I guess the only thing I can think of is if you have either a low rider that can drop to the ground completely, or a H1 Hummer.

Re: Battlefield Towing new
Posted by: RestonLass ()
Date: September 23, 2009 08:24AM


In most HOAs, parking is limited, and most homeowners or tenants have reserved spaces. The spaces are clearly marked. but that doesn't seem to deter people who use as their defense, "I only planned to park there for a little while."

More than a few times I drove into my court with several bags of groceries only to find a car parked in my reserved space and the nearest parking space a block away on the street. Usually I would just park behind them while unloading my groceries. If the owner didn't return by the time I was finished, I had no choice but to park on the street. It got old in a hurry.

We now have HUGE signs at the entrance of each court that clearly says Parking by Permit Only - Towing Enforced. We used to post a warning notice on the windshield and couldn't tow until the second offense, but the laws changed and allow immediate towing when posted, as long as the local police department had a letter on file.

Parking in my HOA is a much more pleasant experience now - at least for the homeowners and tenants.


We have 80 townhouses and 160 parking spaces. We use Battelfield towing to make sure are designated spots will not be taken by "someone" who is there for "just a min". If they are in my spot they will get towed.

---------------------------------------------------
W.W.S.D. what would Scooby Doo

tubby Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Towing companies are like the police. If you
> don't want to deal with them...then don't fucking
> park there!
>
> Walking from a leagl parking space will not kill
> you....in fact, it's good for you! And much
> cheaper!




Obviously you have no experience with Predatory towers, or you happen to be one yourself.

I got fucked over by Battlefield Towing last night for $150. I went to visit a friend and help them move some heavy furniture. Neither of us knew that predatory towing starts at 9pm. Around 910pm, my car was gone. I then discovered one shitty unlit little warning sign at the entrance to the community.

The apartment complex provides guest passes but guess what? They close at 7pm. So basically, no visitors allowed if you arrive after the office closes.

I would never live someplace that restricted my personal activities like that.

graymoose1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Re: Battlefield Towing new
> Posted by: RestonLass ()
> Date: September 23, 2009 08:24AM
>
>
> In most HOAs, parking is limited, and most
> homeowners or tenants have reserved spaces. The
> spaces are clearly marked. but that doesn't seem
> to deter people who use as their defense, "I only
> planned to park there for a little while."
>
> More than a few times I drove into my court with
> several bags of groceries only to find a car
> parked in my reserved space and the nearest
> parking space a block away on the street. Usually
> I would just park behind them while unloading my
> groceries. If the owner didn't return by the time
> I was finished, I had no choice but to park on the
> street. It got old in a hurry.
>
> We now have HUGE signs at the entrance of each
> court that clearly says Parking by Permit Only -
> Towing Enforced. We used to post a warning notice
> on the windshield and couldn't tow until the
> second offense, but the laws changed and allow
> immediate towing when posted, as long as the local
> police department had a letter on file.
>
> Parking in my HOA is a much more pleasant
> experience now - at least for the homeowners and
> tenants.
>
>
> We have 80 townhouses and 160 parking spaces. We
> use Battelfield towing to make sure are designated
> spots will not be taken by "someone" who is there
> for "just a min". If they are in my spot they
> will get towed.


Sounds good in theory. However I have been in several townhouse communities where the spots have been so very poorly marked that you cannot tell which spot belongs to which unit. Adding to the problem is that spots do not necessarily belong to the unit they are in front of, and what appears to be "on street parking" is actually assigned spots. As a result it is easy to accidentally end up in someone's assigned spot. I guess I've been lucky that I haven't gotten towed over the years.

My old HOA used Henry's. I'm still convinced of the fact that the HOA had to have been getting kick backs from Henry's for each tow because I reported NUMEROUS instances of improper towing in our community and never once did the HOA do anything about it.

You couldn't park in our community between 10pm - 7am without a pass but Henry's would tow for no pass starting @ 9pm. I reported numerous instances of Henry's creeping around @ 8:30-8:45pm and then coming back at 9:00pm on the dot and towing. Nothing was ever done.

One night I got towed @ 9:04pm.

I called and raised hell with Henry's for illegally towing, and they insisted our HOA told them to tow at 9pm even though our HOA by-laws say 10pm.

I called our HOA Pres and the community manager & pitched a fit (because I'd reported them doing this multiple times in the past and they refused to ever correct it) and they were reluctant to do ANYTHING.

It took them 4 days to give me the most current copy of the HOA guidelines because they kept trying to put it off. At one point before giving me the docs, the community manager tried to argue with me that towing began @ 9pm.

I got the docs, went to his office and pointed out to him, in person that it started @ 10pm and he made up some dumb ass cover-up excuse.

Once I got those docs I called Loudoun County PD (because they have to notify the PD for towing) and got the time they were notified of the tow (10:05pm) and started running it up the pole @ Henry's and ended up screaming at the Operations VP because first he told me:

1. They could tow @ 9pm

Then after I showed him a copy of the HOA docs he changed his story... literally on the same phone conversation... and told me

2. I was towed after 10pm

Then I broke out the receipt with the time on it and he tried to tell me that

3. The spot on the receipt named "Time Towed" was when they REPORTED to the cops that they were GOING to tow.

So then I cornered him on why you would report a towing to the cops an hour before you could actually legally tow the car and he told me:

4. Because you have to notify the cops before the tow happens and you have to notify them far enough in advance that they have time to record it before you actually do the towing

So when I dropped the bomb on him that it was recorded by LCPD @ 10:05 and that it was clear they had broken at LEAST one of the rules he started going in circles trying to argue meaningless stuff like what time did I get there to pick the car up, etc.

I nailed his ass to the wall on it and told him if I didn't have a check for full reimbursement that afternoon I would be calling the cops & the better business bureau and Fox 5.

I got my check.

Then I told him my entire complex would be notified immediately that they had been towing illegally for no parking pass and that they should be expecting a rash of calls for reimbursements within the next couple of days.

I went back to the HOA and told them that since they'd refused to address this before, that they needed to:

1. Put out a notice to the entire complex explaining that Henry's had been illegally towing and that anyone who had an issue should contact the HOA
2. Put together a list of everyone due a refund to send over to Henry's
3. Put together a clear, concise list of towing policies for our community with our community manager, HOA Pres & Henry's VP of Ops signatures on it and publish it in the monthly newsletter
4. Ensure those refund checks were delivered to the residents.

They HOA didn't do shit. Nothing. None of it.

The next board meeting I went too, they argued with me for an hour about how even though they were the ones who decided to implement a parking policy (we didn't have one before), they weren't in the business of being parking enforcement.

So I wrote a short letter explaining Henry's had been illegally towing and the board refused to do anything about it, photocopied it and taped one to every single door in the community telling everyone to contact the HOA President directly (with his home phone # attached), the community manager & the Ops VP for Henry's to get their refunds.

One night about 2 months later I pulled into the neighborhood just in time to see our HOA President's brand new 7 series BMW being towed @ about 9:15pm. I laughed, waited until they had pulled out of the community, went and knocked on his door and told him the good news in person.

Including the part about watching them hook it up and tow it.

He got all pissy about why I didn't come tell him before the towed it. I laughed and told him " you were the one that felt the need to make this big ass convoluted parking policy so that you could always make sure that you'd have enough spots available for your 4 cars, and then tried to tell me you weren't in the business of parking enforcement. Maybe next time you dumbfucks will do what you're supposed to do in the first place." and walked off.

Fairfax County Towing Ordinance. Read word for word. Towing is the legitmized organized crime in this county. Folks have been getting raped by these compaines for years. If you ever dispute a tow ALWAYS file a complaint to the Consumer Protection Board, and to the County PD. The towing compaines never follow this ordinance.

Section 82-5-32. - Removal and disposition of vehicles unlawfully parked on private or County property.

(a)
It shall be lawful for any owner, operator, lessee, or authorized agent of the one having control of the premises of any parking area or space therein or part thereof, or of any other lot or building, including the County, to have any motor vehicle occupying such lot, area, space or building or part thereof without the permission of such owner, operator, or authorized agent of the one having control of such premises removed by towing or otherwise to a storage site which meets the requirements of this Section until called for by the owner or his agent; provided, that the following conditions are met:

(1)
A property owner shall erect and maintain a permanent sign, readable during daytime and nighttime hours, conspicuously posted at all entrances or otherwise so located as to be visible to any person parking a vehicle on the property, notifying the public of parking restrictions and that towing is enforced. The signs must have wording that indicates "private property," "reserved parking," or otherwise reasonably informs the public of parking restrictions and that towing of vehicles may occur. The words "If towed, call 691-2131" must be affixed to the front of each sign; provided, however, that the requirement for signs shall not apply on any property used at the time of removal for one single-family residence or one two-family residence.

(2)
A tow truck operator who tows a trespassing vehicle, parked in violation of the posted parking restrictions, from private or County property shall immediately notify the Fairfax County Public Safety Communications Center (PSSC); provided, however, whenever a vehicle is towed from locations within the Town of Herndon or the Town of Vienna, the tow truck operator shall notify the law enforcement agency in that jurisdiction.

It shall be unlawful to fail to report such tow as required by this Section, and violation of the reporting requirement of this Section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $100.00. Such failure to report shall limit the amount which may be charged for the storage and safekeeping of the towed vehicle to an amount no greater than that charged for one day of storage and safekeeping. The tow truck operator shall inform the law enforcement agency personnel of: (i) the name of the tow truck operator and the tow company removing the vehicle; (ii) the make, model, color, year, vehicle identification number and the license plate of the towed vehicle; (iii) the address the vehicle was towed from; (iv) the time that the vehicle was towed; and (v) the storage site where the vehicle is located.

(3)
The property owner, operator or lessee has directly or through an agent, expressly authorized the towing of the particular vehicle, or has by a written agreement or contract, delegated to a tow company and such company's tow truck operators, the authority to make the decision to remove a trespassing vehicle without express authorization. For each vehicle towed, a tow company shall maintain, for a period of six months, a record of the authorization to tow, including: (i) the information required to be provided to the PSSC or other state or local law enforcement agency pursuant to subsection (a)(2) of this Section; (ii) the reason for the tow; (iii) the name, address, telephone number and authority of the person authorizing the tow, and that individual's signature, if expressly authorized; or (iv) reference to the written agreement delegating authority to the tow company and its tow truck operators to tow vehicles from the premises.

(4)
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section, if the owner or operator of the trespassing vehicle is present and removes the trespassing vehicle from the premises before it is connected to the towing vehicle, the owner or operator shall not be charged any fee; if the towing vehicle has been connected to the trespassing vehicle, the trespassing vehicle shall not be towed, but the owner or operator of the trespassing vehicle shall be liable for a reasonable fee, not to exceed $25.00, in lieu of towing, provided that the owner or operator of the trespassing vehicle forthwith removes the trespassing vehicle from the premises.

(5)
In lieu of having a trespassing vehicle removed by towing or otherwise, the owner, operator, lessee, or other authorized agent of the premises on which the trespassing vehicle is parked may cause the vehicle to be immobilized by a boot or other device that prevents a vehicle from being moved by preventing a wheel from turning, provided that the boot or other device does not damage the vehicle or wheel. The charge for removal of such device shall not exceed $25.00.

(6)
In lieu of having such vehicle removed by towing or otherwise, or causing the vehicle to be immobilized, the owner, operator, lessee or other authorized agent of the premises on which the trespassing vehicle is parked may request that a duly authorized local government official or law enforcement officer issue, on the premises, a notice of the violation of a parking ordinance to the registered owner of the vehicle.


(b)
This Section shall not apply to police, fire or public health vehicles or when a vehicle shall, because of a wreck or other emergency, be parked or left temporarily upon the property of another.

(c)
The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to prohibit vehicles from being towed when otherwise permitted by law.

(d)
A tow truck operator shall not tow a motor vehicle from private property unless the property owner has, directly or through an agent, expressly authorized the towing of the particular vehicle. However, a tow company or tow operator, to whom the authority to make the decision to remove a trespassing vehicle has been delegated by the property owner or the owner's agent, may remove the trespassing vehicle at any time. Such operator must comply with all the requirements of this Article. A tow company or tow truck operator to whom the authority to make a decision to remove a trespassing vehicle has been delegated, shall not tow or remove a vehicle from private property unless the vehicle is parked in violation of restrictions posted on the sign required by subsection (a) of this Section.

(e)
Every site to which trespassing vehicles are towed shall comply with the following requirements:

(1)
A tow truck operator must tow each vehicle to a storage site located within the boundaries of Fairfax County.

(2)
A storage site shall be lighted during the hours of darkness to afford distinct visibility to all portions of the facility.

(3)
A towed vehicle shall not be stored more than a reasonable walking distance from the area where towing and storage fee payments are received.

(4)
The town operator shall exercise reasonable care to keep the towed vehicle and its contents secure at all times.

(5)
Personal property in the vehicle must be released in accordance with State law.

(6)
No tow truck operator may take a vehicle to a storage lot which does not meet these standards:

(A)
Whenever a storage lot is closed, a conspicuous sign must be posted at the entrance of the storage lot which provides instructions and a local telephone number for obtaining release of a vehicle when the lot is not open;

(B)
The local telephone number posted in the notice required by the preceding subsection shall be answered 24 hours a day; and

(C)
The towed vehicle shall be available for release within two hours from the time the owner calls for the vehicle.

(f)
All towing companies engaged in the business of towing vehicles from private property without the consent of the vehicle owner shall register with the Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection. Such registration shall contain the following information:

(1)
Name, business address and telephone number of the towing company; and

(2)
Address of each storage site to which trespassing vehicles are towed.

(g)
Every tow company which engages in the towing of trespassing vehicles shall prominently display at its main place of business a comprehensive list of all its fees for towing, recovery and storage services and the company's normal business hours. A tow operator shall not collect from the owner of a towed vehicle charges in excess of those posted.

This section shall not apply to vehicles towed, stored, or both towed and stored at the request of a law enforcement officer.

(1)
The maximum fees allowed to be charged are:

(A)
Initial hookup and tow fee not to exceed $50.00.

(B)
Vehicle storage at a rate not to exceed $25.00 for up to the first 24-hour period and shall not exceed $25.00 for each subsequent 24-hour period or any portion thereof for the safekeeping of vehicles or trailers.

(C)
Release fees may be charged for vehicles claimed by the owner after normal business hours. No release fee may be more than $15.00. No other fees for release or administration may be charged.

(2)
Towers may not charge additional fees for the use of a cable, flatbed, or dolly. Fees for extensive and unusual recovery and towing operations, including but not limited to the use of specialty equipment, may be charged at a reasonable rate.

(3)
In all cases where a fee is paid, the tow truck company must provide the vehicle owner with a receipt that bears the complete name and address and telephone number of the tow truck company. Such receipt shall itemize all fees assessed in the towing, storage, and release of said vehicle. Such receipt shall include a printed notice stating that towers shall agree to mediate all complaints submitted to the Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection for resolution.


(h)
A tow company or tow truck operator shall not require a vehicle owner to sign any waiver of the owner's right to receive compensation for damages to the owner's vehicle as a condition of the owner retrieving the towed vehicle.

(i)
A tow company shall prominently display at the storage site, in a conspicuous place in that portion of the premises normally issued for receipt of payment, a sign which is readily noticeable and readable. The sign shall be furnished by the Department of Cable Communications and Consumer Protection, listing the Department's telephone number and informing consumers that they may contact the Department for assistance.

(j)
A tow company or tow truck operator shall neither offer nor give any rebate, payment, or other compensation to a property owner or other person contracting for, authorizing or requesting the towing or removal of a vehicle.

(k)
Except as otherwise provided by this Section, any violation of Fairfax County Code § 82-5-32 shall be punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor. (3-13-63; 1961 Code, § 16-135; 34-78-82; 19-79-82; 30-89-82; 1-94-82, § 1; 19-06-82)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2010 04:02PM by Piggy.

If I had to live in a stinking, fucking townhouse, I think I'd shoot myself.

I think that if your life is defined by the house that you live in then you are missing out on many things. No I do not live in a townhouse but certainly would - and have - some of my fondest memories.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but what's with everyone saying they had to pay $150 when that's not what the city ordinance says? It seems (to me) to say $50 for the hook up and toe, $25 for the first 24 hours and $15 for release. So $90? Did you all pick up your car within 24 hours?

tow* I'm tired.

Any of you just think it's inconsiderate to park in front of someone else's house anyway, since you're not visiting them? I have to deal with the overflow from a neighboring "townhouse community" with you assholes parking in my spot in front of my house, blocking my mailbox, jamming cars into a spot and partially blocking my one-car driveway that I save for my wife. I get a big grin on my face when I get to call the police to come out and give you a $90 ticket.

Angry resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any of you just think it's inconsiderate to park
> in front of someone else's house anyway, since
> you're not visiting them? I have to deal with the
> overflow from a neighboring "townhouse community"
> with you assholes parking in my spot in front of
> my house, blocking my mailbox, jamming cars into a
> spot and partially blocking my one-car driveway
> that I save for my wife. I get a big grin on my
> face when I get to call the police to come out and
> give you a $90 ticket.


Then you should petition your county to enact code requiring X number of parking spots per residence for townhouse/condo communities to prevent overdevelopment and you should keep up with the townhouse/condo community activities to prevent them taking up any actions that will negatively impact your neighborhood. I would be willing to bet you have an HOA, that's what they should have been doing.

They failed you, not the guy that's forced to park there so he can go home and have dinner with his family.

Sometimes other residents are put in a situation where they don't have any realistic choice but to cram in wherever they can.

The community I mentioned above was designed according to code but current code did not allot for enough parking for each unit. You have the potential for 3 cars per unit with only 1.5 spaces allotted per unit without including any visitor parking.

At first it was a free for all. It kinda sucked if you were late, but every spot was always full (which reduced the load on the rest of the neighborhood).

Then a new HOA Pres came in and the board voted to require parking passes and only allot 1 parking pass per house and that was it. So you had a driveway and 1 parking spot. Period.

In my instance, we have an older family member who is active, works, drives etc but lives with us for a lot of reasons so we have 3 cars.

Before the HOA change, sometimes I would find a spot in the neighborhood, sometimes I wouldn't.

After the change, every night I would come home and drive through our neighborhood and there would be empty spot after empty spot (households with only 1 car, places that were empty/up for sale etc) but I COULD NOT park there because we only had 1 parking pass and they refused to issue additional passes, even if they had 50 open spots and only 40 passes issued.

Then we find out 1 side street had been completely blocked off as "no parking except by us" little mini-plaza/industrial complex (even though they had their own big ass parking lot).

Then a lot of people were parking overnight in this strip mall parking lot until the strip mall got tired of it and made it "Customer Parking Only"

Then there was a fire in the neighborhood and the fire marshall didn't like how crowded the streets were so they blocked off half of one whole road with "no parking" signs.

So now you have a neighborhood that won't let it's residents park there even if there's an open spot, 2 streets that would have no residential impact blocked off with no parking & a parking lot that would have no adverse affects blocked off.

People who lived there were forced to park in front of people's houses, or else park in the equivalent of Fair Oaks Mall and walk to their house on Old Ox Road.

It's not an us vs them thing. It's effective neighborhood planning and being proactive. Don't blame the person parking, blame the system that has forced him to park there. Far more people are forced to park there knowing it's not cool, than people who are just assholes that want to do donuts in your front yard because you have nice grass.....


....unless of course there are plenty of other places to park and they just keep blocking your driveway for the hell of it. Then you might want to think about whether you're just generally a dick or not. Maybe they're trying to piss you off.

questionaboutordinance Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe I'm reading it wrong but what's with
> everyone saying they had to pay $150 when that's
> not what the city ordinance says? It seems (to me)
> to say $50 for the hook up and toe, $25 for the
> first 24 hours and $15 for release. So $90? Did
> you all pick up your car within 24 hours?


Nah.. check this little ditty out.... it's pretty good.

Notice in the ordinance there's no mention of an after-hours fee?

Notice how most people get towed at night from a neighborhood?

That's after-hours.

I know Henry's charges a fee for towing after-hours that starts earlier than the towing in our old community. So hypothetically, after-hours charges start at 9pm. Towing starts only after 10pm. Therefore, if you get towed, you're getting charged the after-hours fee too and that bumps it up significantly.

The charge for the after hours fee is illegal. The ordinance does not provide for the tow company to charge that. The ordinance is very specific of what they can charge and for how much. Did you read the part of where the tow company must provide an itemized list of charges and list each specific charge?

Piggy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The charge for the after hours fee is illegal. The
> ordinance does not provide for the tow company to
> charge that. The ordinance is very specific of
> what they can charge and for how much. Did you
> read the part of where the tow company must
> provide an itemized list of charges and list each
> specific charge?


They are just banking on people not knowing the law.

Piggy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The charge for the after hours fee is illegal.

-------------------------------------------------------
Not necessarily.

It's far too complicated an answer to just have something that definitive. You can end up costing someone a lot of money & time believe it's that black & white.
I did a lot of research on this during that battle, and it comes down to very fine wording, how you categorize the charges and the county/city.

For instance, Fairfax has adopted it's own extensive code for Towing whereas Loudoun had simply adopted the State's code so the allowances are different.

Even so, if you look very closely, the FFX code does not explicitly say the operator can charge those, and ONLY those fees. It says the max they can charge for those fees is $XXXX.

It actually leaves a very big gap for additional charges in this sentence:

"Fees for extensive and unusual recovery and towing operations, including but not limited to the use of specialty equipment, may be charged at a reasonable rate."

Notice it does not define unusual towing operations, and it leaves an open-ended fee system. There is no definition of unusual and it would literally come down to a court battle over whether towing from a TH community is an unusual recovery.

The tow company would argue that their primary business is not this kind of towing, and therefore, it's unusual.

It's ridiculous, but I'm just saying... there are loopholes that would have to be closed via a court case.

Fine. First is this is a Fairfax County forum. Second, the ordinace says the tow company shall provide an itemized list for what was charged. I too have fought this battle and won.

My friend just moved in the apartment in Ashburn. I came by with my 2 young kids just to drop off some fruit for her kids. I got there at around 7:
4-8 PM. Parking space does not have any sign to tell me that it needs permit to park there, and my friend forgot to tell me. 15' later I came back down to go home for my kids to go to bed, I saw my car being hooked in the towing truck and towed away in front of my eyes, I called and ran after the driver, but they are thiefs. Bad people, bad company. I hope they all go to hell!

Getting towed for violating parking restrictions is a pain, especially if it happens REALLY quickly. But that's what parking restrictions are all about.

The REAL problem with these towing companies is they often tow when a car is NOT violating parking restrictions.

Anecdote: I was at an apartment complex near Fairfax Circle (Yorktown? Yorkville?) and literally watched as the towing guy walked through the parking lot, taking pictures of cars about to be towed, went back to his truck, and started "doing his job".

Except he hooked up a car that had a parking permit prominently displayed where it was supposed to be displayed. The owner, fortunately for the owner, apparently had been watching, too (*), came out, and confronted the driver. The driver said the rough equivalent of "Oh. Sorry." and moved on to the next car. Had the owner not showed up he would have been out the towing fee.

Legalized extortion is all it is.

[taking a photo of the back of a car when the permit is hanging from the inside mirror is...silly]

========

(*) Having to live in apartments where you have to constantly watch out the window to see if your legally-parked vehicle is about to be illegally towed away must be fun, huh?

Guess again, Tubby. Battlefield hacked into my car and stole my valid parking pass. I have had that pass in the same spot for 6 years, and have been legally parking in this lot for 6 years.

When I picked up the car, the alarm chirped to let me know that ithad not been relocked with the remote. Of course it wasn't relocked with the remote, because I had the remote. They hacked into my car, and the tag which is not easily removed, is completely missing.

Battlefield are theives. Period.

Yes, just last night. As unbelievable as this sounds, they stole my valid parking pass from my car and towed it.

The pass, which has been in the same spot in my car for 6 years, authorizing me to legally park in my lot for 6 years, is suddenly totally gone. The tag is not easily dislodged, it required manual desterity to remove. And when I picked up the car and used my remote, the car chirpped to let me know there had been entry and was not relocked with my remote.

While deployed to a combat zone, my car's license plates expired. I managed to get to a base with internet and renewed them online, months ahead of time. My roommate would have put the new decals on my plates, but they never got to my apartment, despite my repeated attempts to get the VA DMV to resend them, or at least confirm they sent them to the right address. They simply wouldn't respond with anything other than "We sent your renewal to the address on file" auto-generated response. Battlefield towed my car, did not inform the apartment complex management though they were required to by contract, and I had to pay almost $800 to get it released, even though they knew I was ya know, in war. When I got home they wouldn't take my calls. Then when the senator's office called them, the owner said they'd return the storage fee, but not the initial towing fee. But whenever I called, the owner was never available. Soon after I was deployed again, then 7 more times, so it kinda became not possible to deal with. So, obviously thanks a lot DMV, and thanks Battlefield ass holes. You're welcome for your freedom. Pretty sure karma will catch up with you for that one. After doing some research, I learned there's a list of scams tow companies engage in, particularly in the DC/NoVA area, and they are neck deep in them. I wish all manner of ill to befall them, and somehow for everyone wronged by them to be repaid.

- Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While deployed to a combat zone, my car's license
> plates expired. I managed to get to a base with
> internet and renewed them online, months ahead of
> time. My roommate would have put the new decals
> on my plates, but they never got to my apartment,
> despite my repeated attempts to get the VA DMV to
> resend them, or at least confirm they sent them to
> the right address. They simply wouldn't respond
> with anything other than "We sent your renewal to
> the address on file" auto-generated response.
> Battlefield towed my car, did not inform the
> apartment complex management though they were
> required to by contract, and I had to pay almost
> $800 to get it released, even though they knew I
> was ya know, in war. When I got home they
> wouldn't take my calls. Then when the senator's
> office called them, the owner said they'd return
> the storage fee, but not the initial towing fee.
> But whenever I called, the owner was never
> available. Soon after I was deployed again, then
> 7 more times, so it kinda became not possible to
> deal with. So, obviously thanks a lot DMV, and
> thanks Battlefield ass holes. You're welcome for
> your freedom. Pretty sure karma will catch up
> with you for that one. After doing some research,
> I learned there's a list of scams tow companies
> engage in, particularly in the DC/NoVA area, and
> they are neck deep in them. I wish all manner of
> ill to befall them, and somehow for everyone
> wronged by them to be repaid.


Sounds like you caused your own problems.
Attachments:

I watched at Battlefield towed about 10 cars one day. They had 2 tow trucks and a spotter/helpler using sliding block under the wheels of some front wheel drive cars so they could drag the cars out and grab then from the front if the parking brake was not on.

They actually towed the cars to another area in an industrial park because their lot was about 7 miles away. They then dropped the cars in other parking spots and this allowed them time to drive each car to the tow lot then come back and pick up the cars they had moved.

Seems to me once the hook up and drop the car not in their to facility, this is theft as they did not retain possession of the car for the entire time??

SCUMBAGS all the way, preditory towing at its finest.

Seems these SCUMBAGS are up there with Frank's Towing in Arlington. Probably a family member or ex employee of Frank's?

Love to see how much these predatory towing companies make each year and what kind of house and how many beach houses and boats the owner has.

Hope these SCUMBAGS get what they are due in the end.

Need a bunck of News stations to make bait cars, film everything that is in the car and expose these SCUMBAGS and others like them.

RestonLass Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In most HOAs, parking is limited, and most
> homeowners or tenants have reserved spaces. The
> spaces are clearly marked. but that doesn't seem
> to deter people who use as their defense, "I only
> planned to park there for a little while."
>
> More than a few times I drove into my court with
> several bags of groceries only to find a car
> parked in my reserved space and the nearest
> parking space a block away on the street. Usually
> I would just park behind them while unloading my
> groceries. If the owner didn't return by the time
> I was finished, I had no choice but to park on the
> street. It got old in a hurry.
>
> We now have HUGE signs at the entrance of each
> court that clearly says Parking by Permit Only -
> Towing Enforced. We used to post a warning notice
> on the windshield and couldn't tow until the
> second offense, but the laws changed and allow
> immediate towing when posted, as long as the local
> police department had a letter on file.
>
> Parking in my HOA is a much more pleasant
> experience now - at least for the homeowners and
> tenants.

Exactly. So many people in this area live in townhouses because they are priced out of single family homes. One of the worst things about townhouse living is the scarity of parking. There is nothing worse than coming home from a hard day at work to find some jackhole parked in your assigned parking space.

- Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While deployed to a combat zone, my car's license
> plates expired. I managed to get to a base with
> internet and renewed them online, months ahead of
> time. My roommate would have put the new decals
> on my plates, but they never got to my apartment,
> despite my repeated attempts to get the VA DMV to
> resend them, or at least confirm they sent them to
> the right address. They simply wouldn't respond
> with anything other than "We sent your renewal to
> the address on file" auto-generated response.
> Battlefield towed my car, did not inform the
> apartment complex management though they were
> required to by contract, and I had to pay almost
> $800 to get it released, even though they knew I
> was ya know, in war. When I got home they
> wouldn't take my calls. Then when the senator's
> office called them, the owner said they'd return
> the storage fee, but not the initial towing fee.
> But whenever I called, the owner was never
> available. Soon after I was deployed again, then
> 7 more times, so it kinda became not possible to
> deal with. So, obviously thanks a lot DMV, and
> thanks Battlefield ass holes. You're welcome for
> your freedom. Pretty sure karma will catch up
> with you for that one. After doing some research,
> I learned there's a list of scams tow companies
> engage in, particularly in the DC/NoVA area, and
> they are neck deep in them. I wish all manner of
> ill to befall them, and somehow for everyone
> wronged by them to be repaid.

You should have called your JAG officer to see if there was something you could do under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. However the real lesson on this is that when going on active duty servicemen should make arrangements to have their cars stored on private property.

SO WHERE DID YOU LEARN YOUR LAW LESSONS ON HOA AUTHORITY and towing ?

SHARON BULL O VA ?

dumb ass

I live at The Ashborough apartments in Loudoun county. I'm on disability due to an autoimmune disease and sometimes during a flar up I can't come out of the apartment for several days. My tag expired, but I had renewed them online and had put the DMV letter in the car in case I get pulled over, I had epidural injections in my low back and had to be careful and take it easy for a couple days. My daughter came to visit and said my car wasn't out there. Battlefield towing had taken my 4x4 SUV, after arguing with the Ashborough office that it would be nice to get a notice on our door like they love to do when you are late for something, I went to get my car, they had towed it at 3am and I went to get it at 10am, they charged $160, stating the after ours fee, I asked him when they close, he said they are open 24hr, so who's after hours are they charging for? After I paid to get my stolen vehicle back I find the front tires have a flat spot on both tires, down to the steal belts, and there is a loud popping and grinding noise from the differential, I immediately started documenting everything, photos, video and made the tow person get in so he could hear it , I told them I'm not taking it off the lot until I get my insurance company to look at it, I didn't want them to be able to claim that I did it after I left their lot. I talked to "Starky" and he said that he would put 2 used tires on my car to take care of it, I couldn't believe that he was going to actually put 2 used tires on my car, he said that they used dollies and it just drug a little bit and so there is no way there was any damage beyond that. I went to the apartment management and lodged a complaint and suddenly Starky put 4 new tires on it. I told them thanks but the grinding noise is still there and now he can't claim it was the tires making the noise, suddenly Starky became scarce. I had to take it to the dealership and pay $109 to hear the mechanic tell the service manager that it was terrible, it looked like the wheels had rotated some but the axle didn't, thus the splines on the axels were stripped and the transfer case was making a loud grinding noises and more. So I now have a totaled suv, and I'm sure I won't be able to get anything near as what my SUV was, I took excellent care of it because I didn't want a car payment and I had everything I needed with it. How is it in this country someone can come and take your property without warning and make you pay to get it back and they can total it and there isn't anything you can do about it. Does anyone know who, if anyone, you can lodge a formal complaint with? Battlefield is nothing but legal thieves and predatory doesn't seem to quite cover what they do to people. I now don't have a safe vehicle to drive , because the law says one of these predators can come into a gated community and take your property without warning and trash something that you worked so hard to take care of, because your on disability and can't afford to get a new car, but you need reliable transportation to get to Dr appointments. There should be some recourse to stop this activity!

This is not about Battlefield, but rather a bunch of idiots towing over in Alexandria.

A few years ago my wife and I were out running after a late dinner, when she had something to pick up at a friends apartment off of Edsall Road.

I parked in a spot in front of the main door of this 3 story apartment building. She got out, and I stayed in my Dodge 4x4 with a Cummins Diesel, and left it running so I could run the AC, and listen to the radio, but I did cut off the lights.

After sitting there for about 5 minutes I felt the ass of my truck going up in the air. This tow truck guy had one of these cradle snatching set ups, so all he had to do was back up. flip the switch that engaged at second half of the cradle.

He had no lights on as well, so I didn't notice him backing up to my rear tires. So through the parking lot we go - Me still in my running pick up truck.

When he left the apartment complex he pulled over to put on the over the tire tow straps to keep the my truck from hopping off his tow truck. This is when I yelled out my window to let me loose - But we said I was in violation, and I needed to exit my truck. I said fuck you, and the argument began. While we argued I stayed in my truck, and he got one of the tow straps secured.

Seeing what he was about to do, I engaged my truck into 4x4 Low, and put the tranny into 1st gear. I watch him almost shit his pants when my truck started pulling his tow truck backwards about 30 feet before the tow strap snapped, and my truck jumped off his cradle.

I cruised back over to the apartment complex where my wife was waiting on the sidewalk tapping her foot, wondering where I was.

I got the hell out of there, and I never heard anything from the cops.