Car Theft

Date: Sept. 11, 2008
T'ime: Somewhere between the hours of 6:15 - 8:30 p.m.
Event: Snowy Mountain Research & Recovery "patrols" parking area of Art Space Apartments, looking for vehicles not displaying a permit to park. Spies my beautiful little red maxima innocently parked in my daughter's personal parking spot that she pays extra for and granted me permission to leave my car there (as I had already been in a 2 hour space on the street for 1 1/2 hours) whilst we went around the corner for chinese food. Without any warning to the lessor of said space, or checking with dispatch to alert the lessor of said space, they quickly as possible (before anyone has time to respond, thus cheating them out of their $240.00 fee to return the vehicle) hitch 'er up and off they go to a very dark and scary lot that is "protected" with loops of rusted barb wire atop an 8' metal fence next to the railroad tracks where we waited a full thirty minutes for an endlessly long train to pass by going slower than mud uphill in order to gain access only to wait another 20 minutes on a dead-end road with a sleeping child in the car for a driver to appear. The driver who is employed by the towing company accepted the fee, wrote out a receipt, and waited until we were preparing to drive off before remembering that there is a tenant discount of $20.00 that he returned and re-wrote our receipt. While we were happy to receive something back, it still came at a cost of $220.00 to reclaim MY vehicle from nothing more than theives who seek to profit rather than serve the public. As the driver explained: "If we wait for a call from someone whose space has been taken, 9 times out of ten by the time we get there, the car is gone. That is why we patrol." If Evergreen Management (property managers of Apartment Building) were seeking to protect the best interest of the tenants then would they not check with their tenants before they authorize vultures to swoop in for gain? Would they not install an entry gate with a code known only to tenants in order to keep unauthorized vehicles out of their lot? Would they not seek to work with and not against their tenants? Would they not seek to employ a host of other services desperately needed in order to maintain and keep their building and grounds safe, clean, and in good repair for their tenants? Although the driver disclaimed any of the fees going back to the property management company, why then allow a third party private company access to private property to enforce parking rules for tenants who have repeatedly requested that management cease and desist this practice? The city of Salt Lake only issues parking tickets for $15-20 and then gives drivers 10 days to pay. Who is looking the other way when owners of towing companies seem to have finagled a way to exploit and extort money from the public they should be serving? They tacked on a $48.00 fuel surcharge. The distance towed was under 4 miles. Who gives them the right to steal first your car, then your trust, then your means to survive?