Q: I am filling out a petition regarding impoundment of a motor vehicle, I am wondering who the respondent should be?
My car was towed when I was on a trip to visit my mom out of state. The parking lot in my apartment complex was getting re-paved so they towed it… without notifying me that the lot was going to be under construction. All the did was put a paper on my car but I was out of state… there was no way to know. When I got back to Michigan after 10 days, I noticed my car was gone! I searched the abandoned vehicle registry and found it there but I was never notified by the Secretary of State that my vehicle was towed and considered “abandoned”. Furthermore, the car is in working condition and has up to date plates and registration. Should the respondent be the towing company? The apartment complex? The Secretary of State? Or all of them?
A: You could list all except perhaps the Secretary of State...I'm not sure what liability they have here. Ordinarily, a private property owner contracts with a towing company for any vehicle parked without permission. Property owner calls the towing company, or the towing company otherwise shows up with instructions from the property owner to tow any vehicle you see here. It's not the towing company's duty, usually, to figure out what's right or wrong in that scenario, other than to properly document and report the tow. The Secretary of State is not otherwise involved in tows.
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