Guys, need some legal advice

[sgreger1]

I have been scammed by the government. I need to know if anyone has any advice for how to move forward.


1) My motorcycle was stolen.
2) I reported it to the police
3) Almost 2 weeks pass
4) They find my motorcycle


So they call me and tell me the motorcycle has been found, and that I have to come pick it up in San Francisco, but have to get the release form from the police first by 3pm. So I take off work and drive there.



Listen to this BS: So after finding the motorcycle, instead of calling me (the owner) to pick it up like is their protocol, they immediately had it towed to AutoReturn, which is the towing company that San Francisco contracts with.

So anyways, I called them to help me find my stolen vehicle, and all they did was go find it first and then hold it ransom for $500.

That's right, they want $500 to pick up MY stolen vehicle. But that' not it, there is a $200 "administrative" paperwork charge as well. And the fees compound daily of course.


BUT THAT'S NOT IT. They then said that even if I paid the money I cannot have the bike back. I have to insure it before I can get it, even though it is a broken and inoperable motorcycle which I am towing out on a truck. I have to buy insurance for it, and then come back on monday. So at a minimum, I have to pay the $450 per day every day until monday, and take more days off work (which I can't do).

But that's not it either. I also paid my registration on the bike about a month ago, but the franchise tax board hasn't communicated that into the "system" or something according to them, so even though I have proof that I paid it, it doesn't matter to them until THEIR system updates, which they say can take several weeks.

So because of their paperwork BS, and because they are slow to talk to each other, I have to let my bike sit in the impound accruing hundreds of dollars a day in fees. I cannot pay these fees, and was told that I would have to leave it there until the city can lien sell the 11,000 motorcycle to recoup the $700 fee they charge for finding your stolen vehicle.







So they went out and found my stolen vehicle and are now holding it for ransom. And because of their paperwork BS, I cannot get the bike out. Because I can't get the bike out, the fees rack up daily and I have no way of paying them. I talked to every manager I could and all they did was be rude and tell me how they are within their rites to hold my car until I pay them their excessive fees that compound daily.



So now they are selling my bike just to pay for the $700 "found your stolen vehicle" fee, and I am stuck with the 10,000 loan still.



What can I do? I cannot believe it is legal for them to find a stolen vehicle and then charge you hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get it back, even when they force you to keep it there for longer due to THEIR paperwork error.


I think I am going to set up a website like SFTOWINGSCAM.COM or something and try to gather others who have been forced to sell their car because of a parking ticket or because of some BS paperwork error that wasn't your fault. Then file a class action lawsuit or something. That's what happened to the last guys who contracted with the city, they lost 50 million for a similar scam.

[snusgetter]

Are you sure this isn't a script for some Hollywood TV series?

Sure sounds like it, sgreger!!



And a pretty good one at that!

[lxskllr]

Dude, I've got no idea. Your best bet is to consult a lawyer. That's beyond lame. That's the kind of shit you hear about in Mexico, and Africa. They were paid once to do their job, and they want to get paid again?! Not to mention the racketeering regarding towing and storage. The mafia wouldn't have the balls to try pulling something like that.

[justintempler]

Sounds like a job for your insurance company, either that or you're screwed.

Trying to get the government to do anything legally when they run the legal system is like being a hamster on the hamster wheel.

[Monkey]

What about the company holding the loan...have them repo it from the gubbmint. If they hold the title technically they are screwed in the end.

How cam the city sell it without the title?

[precious007]

I cannot pay these fees, and was told that I would have to leave it there until the city can lien sell the 11,000 motorcycle to recoup the $700 fee they charge for finding your stolen vehicle.

In Romania that's the police's job to find your vehicle /motorcycle AND bring it back to the owner .........

my car was stolen right from the front of the building I live in ..... and they found it after threee months in a nasty neighbouhood and brough it back

why the hell pay all the taxes if they can't resolve these cases? what the heck are they doing with your god damn money.... ?!?!?!

[sgreger1]

Sounds like a job for your insurance company, either that or you're screwed.

Trying to get the government to do anything legally when they run the legal system is like being a hamster on the hamster wheel.

Tell me about it. The guy slammed the book down with all the auto laws and was like "WE ARE WITHING OUR RIGHTS TO HOLD YOUR VEHICLE", like as though I had done something wrong and my car wasn't just stolen or something.

And it wasn't insured at the time for theft, and it is no longer insured. So insurance is out of the picture, it is just me advocating for myself. Problem is I have no money for a lawyer. I hope if I can start this website and find others who have been scammed I can convince a lawyer that there might be some money in it for them. I don't even want a million dollars, I just want them to pay the day loan on the bike since they stole my vehicle.



@LX, This is EXACTLY what happens in Mexico and Africa, except at least THEY have a system to handle things like this. It's called paying off the cops/clerk at the police station to fix the problem and it goes away and they give your bike back. It's extortion, but it's FAIR extortion, you at least have a chance to get your shit back if you pay their pimp-tax. But not here, they make the rules and they need the money. The state comes first in soviet Russia, remember?

[sgreger1]

What about the company holding the loan...have them repo it from the gubbmint. If they hold the title technically they are screwed in the end.

How cam the city sell it without the title?

This is what my father suggested too. I'm not sure how it would work though, I havn't talked to the loan company yet. They financed it as a recreational vehicle and not through a typical loan like for a car. It was more like a yamaha credit card for the exact amount of the bike purchase. So I believe it is revolving credit. I am not sure how that works, and to be honest I am completely ignorant about any of this. I don't even know if they own part of the title or not, I am not even sure if it's a secured loan in that way or if they just gave me a 10,000 credit card. I have to call to clarify how much of a stake they have in this vehicle. If I can get them to go repo it I will be happy. **** my credit, my wife's credit is perfect anyways.

[sgreger1]

In Romania that's the police's job to find your vehicle /motorcycle AND bring it back to the owner .........

my car was stolen right from the front of the building I live in ..... and they found it after threee months in a nasty neighbouhood and brough it back

why the hell pay all the taxes if they can't resolve these cases? what the heck are they doing with your god damn money.... ?!?!?!

Here the police have an obligation to secure a stolen vehicle once recovered. So the protocol is to first contact the owner/whoever made the police report, and they have to give you a certain amount of time to come get your vehicle. In the event that they cannot contact you, they are forced by law to secure the vehicle to prevent against further theft, so they contract with the most expensive towing company in San Francisco. It's more like a subsidized towing company, so they get to keep some of the profits. So anyways, they never called me, and I can prove it on paper (and the office clerk agreed with me) because the field on the forum they fill out when taking down a police report requires that they get contact information such as a phone number. Whoever took the police report supposedly did not, as the field was blank. This shows a blatant violation of policy/protocol on their end, and this negligence led to my vehicle being towed, not so surprisingly to their towing yard where they get to charge me $500 plus a $200 administrative fee, as well as elongate the process for days, weeks, or months by making you pay any outstanding parking tickets, by making you prove it's insured, by making you have a valid drivers license, and by generally making sure every "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed before they give up the vehicle, all the while you are racking up fees.

[Hanske]

I invite you to the Kingdom of Norway. This woun't be a problem here.

[Crow]

That sort of shit wouldn't fly here either...

I think it's time for you to lawyer up.

[GoVegan]

Welcome to America! We are one of the few countries that enjoy making a profit off of a victim. My brother had a similar situation. Somebody stole his care while he was in the store. The police later found it and called their contractor to come pick it up. He had to pay 100's of dollars in towing, storage and administrative fees to get his car back. It's all one big scam really. The police contract with the towing company who in turn charges high prices and then gives them a cut of the deal. A lot of cities also do this same type of arrangement for cable TV companies and garbage service. They will offer exclusive rights for a company to award a "service" in return for a fee. He who can charge the most and give the government a big cut, wins!

[Hanske]

You're both from California. If you had stopped the crazy bodybuilding Austrian to become your governor, this shit might not have happened. You can be happy you have that new guy... Was it Jerry Brown?

[snusgetter]

You're both from California. If you had stopped the crazy bodybuilding Austrian to become your governor, this shit might not have happened. You can be happy you have that new guy... Was it Jerry Brown?

And this is what ... his second -- or third -- time around?

Hopefully for Californians he has some answers now to the right problems.

[GoVegan]

And this is what ... his second -- or third -- time around?

Hopefully for Californians he has some answers now to the right problems.

Too be honest, he is doing what we should have done in the first place. Cut spending and raise taxes. The only problem with his plan is that he is assuming that he will get enough public support to raise taxes enough to fund essential public services. I am not looking forward to a tax increase but I have a feeling that this is more like bitter medicine at this point as the budget is in terrible shape. The only thing that concerns me is that he said that the tax increases will be temporary and will end after 5 years. I have never in my life seen a "temporary" tax go away even after the economy improves. I haven't seen the actual legislation that we are supposed to vote on but I really hope it includes a provision making this tax increases truly temporary and another provision not allowing this money to be used however they want or allow it to be used in a way to offset other spending.

I think the other problem California will face will be the courts. Whenever they try and cut spending in any particular program it seems like there are bus loads of lawyers and sympathetic judges who try to reverse any spending cuts. Most government programs often start out as a well intentioned and simple effort to help someone but by the time the courts done it evolves into a multitude of complex programs full of regulations. What then happens is that the local governments are forced to hire a lot of analysts to interpret these rules and we end up with top heavy administrations with very little funding going to the bottom. Our school systems are a good example of this. By the time education departments and administrators get their cut, very little of that spending is actually going towards the student. It's a very expensive way to do business.