Haul of shame? State maybe curbs predatory towing

Provo Mayor John Curtis, concerned about stories he had heard of greedy towing, recently asked on his blog for example of unreasonable practice by tow-truck companies that he could take to the City Council.

That was on a Monday at 7 a.m. By Tuesday at 3 p.m., when the board meeting began, he had 700 nightmarish yarns about predatory tow-truck operators.

Then Curtis sister-in-law, former state Rep. Trisha Beck, complained last week to Sandy City after a guest at a dinner party she was hosting couldn’t drive up steep, snow packed 9000 south, level with assistance from a police officer. So she left her car in a store parking lot and had her son take her to the party.

The car was towed, and she had to split over cash to get it back, level though the no-parking signs were covered with snow and the lot was nearly empty on a Sunday night. We have tried to discuss with businesses and have gotten them to post more and larger signs so people know of parking limits, said Sandy spokeswoman Nicole Martin. But as private property, our hands are tied.

Curtis said the problem stems from the high fines that Tow-Truck Companies can levy against drivers who park in no-parking areas in private lots. The state, whose laws are tilted in help of property owners and tow-truck operators, allows a $145 charge for the tow, plus gas and other operating expense. That as a rule puts it over $200, said Curtis, when a parking ticket on a city street will cost only $15 to $20. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, is preparing a bill that would let cities start the minimum tow charge instead of the state. Curtis, who is working with Stratton on the measure, says cities would be disposed to set much lower fees. Stratton bill also would give city the leeway to set ordinance on the number and size of no-parking signs in parking lots, establish a car owner bill of rights, provide for alternating means of payment besides cash and spell out a minimum amount of time a car can be parked before it is towed.