Predatory Towing Continues to Victimize Automobile Owners
In September, we filed a class-action lawsuit against a bunch of Southern California towing companies that we believe were engaging in illegal towing practices. Our client, Alejandro Stephens was the victim of predatory towing when his car was towed away while it was legally parked in the lot of Los Angeles restaurant without his or the restaurant owner's permission.
Now, we're hearing about another towing company, Cortex Towing in Riverside, which is reportedly indulging in illegal towing practices. Among the complaints we've received:
“They make customers pay cash only and refuse to take personal checks or credit cards as required by law.”
“They overcharge, which means they charge exorbitant and very high drop fees and release fees, fees that exceed what the local police tow charges.”
“They tend to tow vehicles to a dark street or to a location other than where the car was picked up and leave them unattended.”
“They then troll for more cars and "pile" them up in that location before taking them all to the tow yard, thus seriously delaying the time it takes an owner to retrieve their car.”
“They damage the vehicles they tow.”
“There are reports of thefts from the towed cars.”
Based upon the complaints we have received, I believe that this company is showing all signs of being one of those unethical businesses, many of which we've named in the class action lawsuit. Our complaint names several defendants including Nonstop Towing (the company involved in our client's case), Melrose Towing, Pepe's Towing, Heavy Metal Transport, Inc., MVP Tow Service, Midlands Towing, Mr. C's Towing and Blackjack Towing. The high fees they charge, entirely knowing that someone needs his or her automobile desperately and is in a vulnerable position, is despicable.
In Mr. Stephens' case, he was forced to pay up $278 and that's a whole lot more than what equivalent police tows charge and that is the benchmark. We applaud our client for making that decision to go after the company that victimized him. As for us, these cases are not money generators. But we take our responsibility as consumer attorneys very seriously.
This is a matter of principle for us and we will fight for our client's rights. What these companies are doing is plain wrong and we're going to fight it. This lawsuit is the first such action to be filed against towing companies in California that we know of and almost certainly will not be the last.
We know there are other victims out there. If you have information about Cortex Towing, any of the other companies named in our suit or others we may not yet know about, please call us toll-free at 1-800-956-0123 or email us at to tow@bestattorney.com. You can play an important part in putting the bad tow companies out of business.
