Beware illegal towing firms in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO Supervisor offers legislation to help drivers fight back

When Tori Casanova walked out of a salsa club in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood just after midnight on April 1 last year, she expected her car to be waiting where she left it. Instead, the vehicle was gone, and the Moraga resident was stranded in a deserted area of town.

Casanova, 47, was the victim of an illegal towing by a company out to make a quick buck. While many of the 30 or so tow companies that work in San Francisco operate their businesses legally, city officials say others likely make thousands of dollars a year trolling for cars that may be illegally parked on private property, then towing those vehicles without the property owner's permission - a violation of California law.

When the vehicle owner comes to pick up their car, they are generally unaware of their rights and simply pay the bill, which starts around $300 and increases by the day.

Casanova, however, read up on the law and took the company to court, eventually winning a $1,200 settlement.

"I didn't do it for the money," Casanova said. "It was more a matter of principal."

In the hopes that more citizens will do the same, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin is sponsoring legislation that will require towing firms to display brochures that inform the public of their rights under the law. The legislation passed an initial vote earlier this month and will likely get final approval Jan. 6.

There's no way to know how often cars are illegally towed, said Deputy City Attorney Christiane Hayashi, who has worked on the issue for several years. She said a handful of "bad actors" appear to be preying on people who don't know the law.

"It can be dangerous to the public, from the economic losses to being stranded in the middle of the night," she said. "I frequently get people who call and say, 'I was in this lot, they towed me and I didn't pick up my car immediately, and now I owe $700 and I don't even know what just happened.' The only answer I can give them is to go to Small Claims Court."

Some of those people will simply opt not to get their car back, thinking the bill will go away, she said. Instead, months later, they are getting called by collection agencies.

Because the state regulates tow companies, the city can do little else than inform people of their rights, Peskin and Hayashi said. But in addition to helping the public, officials hope the new law will help solve the problem by discouraging tow truck drivers who might act illegally.

"The law is designed to give the victims of these potentially illegal tows the information they need to fight back," Peskin said. "It also takes away (the tow company's) financial incentive."