Quote:
Originally Posted by BK
I read and interpret statutes and regulations for a living.  They get easier the more you read, though the one posted here was formatted a little oddly.
Suffice it to say, you're correct -- there's no 96-hour waiting period. That's for parking citations, presumably regular street parking. A landlord can tow a car that is improperly parked in his lot, provided he has posted the warning sign and he and the tow truck company follow the notice and release rules elsewhere in the statute. |
I would agree with you the more you read them they tend to become clearer, I too use to read regulations as part of my jobs, and I can tell you this much it is not until you have to fight or enforce a regulation you really under the meaning behind them or how many ways they can be interrupted.
In this case in clause 2 where it stated the 96 hours, it uses the word notice and I can see how someone can think this means a parking citation of some sort, however in reality, and I am speaking from direct experience in this case notice means that the owner has been notified that the car is illegally park and will be removed at their cost. Plus, in Calif if you are illegally park outside of private property and the police issue a citation they can tow you immediately without notice. This reg is strictly for private property since the police have no jurisdiction on private property.
I had personal experience where we tried to remove 2 vehicles from private property in Calif with all the proper signage. In one case the owner was tracked down and notify with a certified letter and had a police report then got it towed. In this case (which I disagreed with since you should not mess with people's cars) the association also put one of those very hard to remove stickers smack in the middle of the driver side window saying the car was illegally parked and will be towed.
In the other instance, it was at a place of business and the car was abandon, it was a 56 Cadillac convertible worth fixing up but it was missing the license plates so we could not find out who owned it. The police agreed to open the door so we could look inside, and luckily the car had the owners registration attached to the steering wheel column like Calif use to require, and we got the owners name. Turned out the guy was no where to be found in Calif, so we had to file the proper paper work with Calif and got the car official declared abandoned and got it towed. Some tow company got a great fixer upper out of the deal too.
If you read the regulation it sound like if you meet anyone one element you can tow the car but in reality you have to meet them all, and the police will tell you this not to say it does not happen the other way.