Please HELP!! What to do with stolen car, stripped and being charged 1500 by towing company??

Question

My accord was stolen and found after 2 months, stripped, missing hood, glove box, wheels & tires, front bumper, fender, broken ignition, liability coverage=$0 coverage... A total mess but worse was to come. I was NOT notified of the recovery at all and until I called to find out , next thing I knew was the car had been in the towing company for 46 days and now they want $1500 for babysitting it. The PD told me I can get reimbursement for the $1500 but I kind of doubt it and even if I do get it, what am I going to do with the car? I don't have that much money up front for this.
My question is... if I don't want this car anymore... will I get into trouble(lawsuit) for not paying the tow company? They said they will let the collecting company to get the money from me but what if I don't have that money? Does anyone ever encountered this before?? I'm desparate and I have a final in 2 days... Oh, crap.
I want to thank you all for any input in advance. Appreciate it.

Wow, thank you guys for all the input!! Here are some more details along with some questions:
I don't owe any money of this car and I think I will just tell the tow company to keep the car but ....do they have the right to not accept the car and choose to let a collector to get me pay for it since $1500 is way more than what the car is worth right now. i wonder under what circumstances will the tow company hire collector to collect the money?
My friends told me not to worry about it & don't even have to talk to the tow company if I don't want the car back. Is it really ok to not talk to the tow company though?
BTW I didn't get the release form from the PD and I dont plan to since I dont want the car anymore.
Thanks again guys, I'm 60% relaxed now...

-I have liability without comp on it.
-I'm in California.
-I'm going to a university 200 mi away from the car.
-The tow company should have contacted me but the guy told me the lady who works for him was sick for almost 1 month and had to catch up so didn't contact me.
-The PD did not contact me either. When I called to check the status, they told me the title is cleared and I was refered to the 'Record' dept and they told me 'We have the paper work of your car being recovered but we don't have the paperwork where your car is now', I was shocked to find this out. Called back next day talk to them again, they had to call the officer who recovered the vehicle to find out where the car was. Took them 30 mins to call me back with location of my stripped car.
Horrible experience and it's worse when I have to deal with my physics final.... can't concentrate.

Sorry guys for making this question lengthy.

Guys, I just talked to the tow compnay and he says if I don't pay for it ,he's going to sue me and he threatens me that he had never lost any case before. So I want to hear what you guys say about this?

Answer 1

It's not fair that you were a victim once already when your car was stolen only to become a victim again via extortion by the tow company. I don't think there are any local laws that protect victims of car theft (especially when you reported it) so you're not responsible for any charges incurred after the crime occurred.

There is a similar situation being addressed here in Dallas because a woman went through the same thing you did and it got some media attention. Here's a link to the story (sorry it's so long):

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=5D3A5CA05443D5F39AF68C702C7C9075?contentId=2409240&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Is there someone with the city council that you can talk to? Perhaps you start a snowball effect for change. An advocate in the local media can tell your story maybe, which could get you some support. Consumer action reporters (the On Your Side kinda guys) are the ones you want to talk to because they look for companies/organizations that are out to take advantage of John Q. Public.

Sorry this happened to you. I wish there was more I could do to help you.

Answer 2

If you don't want the vehicle any more, contact the tow company and offer to give them the title. At least with that they can get the car out of their lot and it will also stop the storage charges on it.

I don't know where you are, but let me tell you what would happen if you were in Oklahoma. The minute you were towed, you would get a card from the state of Oklahoma telling you where your vehicle was, and why it was towed. That would be sent to whatever address was on your official record at the DMV, which is why it's important to notify them when you move.

After 30 days, I would notify you again, this time by certified mail, and again to whatever address was on the official print out.

We don't "babysit" vehicles, we recover them and keep them safe from further damage until the owner or their insurance company (in the case of a wreck) has a chance to look at it.

Again, talk to the tow company, and offer to send them the title. They might work with you. The only time we get upset is when people ignore us, or lie to us. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out of my way to return something left in a car important to the owner, and they have told me "I'll be back tomorrow to do something with the car and get you paid" and then I never see them again.

Answer 3

Boy..that is a bad one. If the police have no clue as to who stole your car, and you lack insurance coverage, you are not likely to collect on that.

It seems that the towing company is making out pretty good. I would find out who was responsible for letting you know about the car and why it took so long. Try to make a deal with the towing company.

You don't want them to turn it over for collection. Even if you have no money, they will screw up your credit record and could come back to haunt you in the future.

Try to deal with this now by talking to the towing company. They might give you a break and make a deal.

Answer 4

well i don't know what state your in but in NY they have to notify you by certified mail with in 48 hours of recovery. I would call the local DA's office since the police had to recover it and second your insurance company. even though you might not have coverage they can advise you on what to do and what is legal. I would bet the tow company is pulling something and maybe even stripped some parts off the car themsleves. They could have all the parts and hoping they can place a lein on the car, fix it and sell it. I would contact the police and look at the condition report from the recovering officer and call your insurance company

Answer 5

You have no liability insurance? Or do you mean you have no comprehensive coverage? Liability is if you damage someone else's property. Comprehensive covers your car against damage. If you have no comprehensive insurance........what is the car worth in perfect condition? In "stripped" condition? Do you have a bank loan on it? If you own the car outright (no loan or its paid off), and the car is not worth the $1500 let them keep it. However if you have an outstanding loan on it, call the finance company for assistance as it is in there best interest to make sure there is not a lien put against the title. Another option is for the impound company to get real. See if they will negotiate. If the car is not worth $1500, and you want to keep it, see if they will take less. If they try to lien sale it and it is worth less, they will not get there $1500 by selling it anyways! Sorry to hear it was stolen. Hope this helps!

Answer 6

talk to your insurance agent. tell the towing company you're not responsible because the car was stolen. you didn't tell us how the car ended up in the tow lot. something's not adding up. what if the tow yard is also a chop shop? get help from your insurance company. ask a few lawyers by phone for (free) advice. Ask the cops for some advice.

Answer 7

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but just call the tow company and tell them to keep the car in lieu of the $1500. and you can sign over the title. I think there is a fund that some areas have set up to help victims of crimes overcome their losses, they may be what the officer was talking about?

Answer 8

Find out exactly where the car is and have somebody trash it ...then contact the towing company and tell them you want it ...because they are responsible for the damages while on their property you could sue them but they would probably keep the car and forget about the whole thing! good luck

Answer 9

don`t know what state your in but you are the victim and you need to go to legal aid in your town and find out the law in your state. it seems to me the towing co. should have contacted you or the police should have contacted you when the car was found. you tell the legal aid everything don`t leave Anny thing out. if you are in col ledge talk to the law professor about it maybe he/she can help you with some advice?

Answer 10

i own a shop and i have been through this once,you don't have to accept the car back,they will keep it for the tow bill ,so that will get you out of trouble on that one,as for the value of it ,basically right now it is worthless,so rather than pay to get it back and then have to pay to get rid of it again,id just let them keep it,this would solve a lot of problems with it,and then you,d be out of debt on this part of it,that's what i would do on this one,good luck with this i hope it turns out good.