Tow company's are crooks!! need advice!

[Anonymous]

So I've been working hard cleaning up my credit report and virtually everything was going smoothly. Cleaned up the baddies on my Experian and Equifax reports. I finally checked my Transunion score and I see a collection from a towing company that I never got billed for $2,707 originating from 10/2011!!

Long story short had my car towed for a flat while I was in the process of moving. Was so consumed with work and moving that I didn't go back till the following week to pick my car. (Car was parked on a public street) They tried to slap me with a $1,800 bill that I couldn't pay at the time. So they kept my car and sold it. I never once received a bill from them and wasn't aware of this until tonight. Is this legal in the state of California?? The last thing I want to do is give my hard earned dollar to that scam of a tow company!
Please all reaponses welcome

[Anonymous]

Oh and yes the car had value. Was a sweet 1994 LT1 Camaro just FYI

[DaveInAZ]

How in the world did a towing company get your Social Security number & date of birth? They would need that to put a collection on your credit report. They can't sell your car without a personal judgement order from a court, you would have been notified of the court hearing by being served a summons by a sheriff or certified mail.

[Anonymous]

Not sure how they got my social number but I'm assuming its the company that's dealing with the "debt" I never received a judgment nor was I summoned by notice or person. They pretty much took advantage of the fact that I couldn't pay and was struggling at the time. This was 4 years ago and not sure if I can or should take legal action against them. Any suggestions??

[Anonymous]

In the state of california they can. They simply place a towing lien against the title, and after a certain amount of time they apply to the DMV for a new title as an abandoned vehicle. No courts or judgements involved.

[Anonymous]

Don't care about the car at this point. My main issue is them selling my car and still billing me $2,700+ I never once received a bill of this amount ever or any other bill from them.

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Don't care about the car at this point. My main issue is them selling my car and still billing me $2,700+ I never once received a bill of this amount ever or any other bill from them.

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Did you ever sign anything with them? You can try disputing it with Transunion, saying it's not your debt, that collection company will have to produce something proving it's yours. The Statute of LImitations for debt in CA is 4 years, so if your dispute doesn't work it will come off this Oct.

[Anonymous]

Statute of limitations has nothing to do with reporting time.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it would stay on my report for 7 years if I'm correct. Its currently in collections reading on Transunion only which is why I'm so pissed at the moment.

[cartwrna]

Only good thing about this, is if you can't get it fixed no one pulls TU really aside from mortgage lender, Barclays, and a few other credit issuers. That's a ridiculous bill if I do say so myself! Even without selling the car, $2700 come on!