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That report leaves me wondering how many repo men (or ladies) towed cars with children 9 years of age or older.

In regards to the pizza - sorry Frazzled, trade secret!

Sounds like a "clean shoot" to me. I wonder if the repo man's family misses him and wished he had announced himself - perhaps he did but the noble shooter did not hear him.
I'm surprised there were no bloggers whining about tow hearings, Mr. Hand. I'll PM the details to you so as to not bend the thread any further.
Re: $400.00 fees, etc. Yup, that is indeed highway robbery - and one reason TDLR took over regulating the tow industry in Texas. Fees are now set in stone, but that doesn't mean a wrecker driver might not lie and try to scam a vehicle owner into giving them an arm and leg.
While I don't know about the legality of it, entering/crossing someone's property to perform a repo unannouced certainly seems like a receipe for disaster. I look foward to this being cleared up. The fact is there are plenty of folks ready, willing, and able to shoot at "shadows in the dark", and I suppose that under the right circumstances they would be labled "clean shoots".
For the record, I've found that charm works best - sometimes I'll even flash my tooth at 'em. Chicks dig that! :).

Well, if it was me I'd just wait until the mower was parked in a reserved parking space and then, well, you know.
To answer your question Mr. Gregthehand, please google "Houston Tow Hearing". It would be great if you could post a link or summary - I can't because I'm working and all I have is this stupid "smart" phone.
I am proud to say I've never lost a tow hearing because all of my tows are legit, what with me following all the laws and regulations and all. :)
And I hope no one gets mad about it, I don't write the laws I just follow 'em.
As one of our fellow forum members says, "Don't blame me, I didn't park your car there!"

austinrealtor wrote:

chabouk wrote:

mctowalot wrote:My initials are M.C., and I tow - a lot. Hence the screen name.
While I don't do any repo's (that I know of anyway) I do tow vehicles that are parked in reserved spots or parking lots or areas that require a permit of some sort to park in. //Many times I am told I don't have the right to "take someone's property" ie: the vehicle that should not be parked from where I'm towing it from. So I hope in your eyes my type of towing fits in this thread.
In my gig, I'm actually "giving" my client the use of their property (the parking spot that they paid big bucks to have reserved for them) by removing someone else's property (their car that should not have parked in my clients parking space). Thankfully, the laws regarding all of this are laid out cut and dry as the tow lobby is alive and well in Texas.

I don't think anyone is arguing that a repo man or towing outfit has the legal right to take the property -- they do. This thread started about the legality of stopping someone from taking your property, even if it turns out to be a repo man with the legal authority to seize it.

You, like the repo man, have a civil law authority to seize and remove property. But you don't have any authority to seize or remove it by using force against a person. It's illegal for you to tow a vehicle with a person inside... what are you going to do if they hop in and lock the doors? It's not legal for you to physically restrain and move a person who is in the way, so what are you going to do if they pull a "we shall not be moved" human chain around the car and/or your truck?

You've got the legal authority to do your job, but you don't have any legal authority to initiate force against someone to do it. You can persuade, intimidate, deceive, trick, charm... but you can't legally use force.

And I'll add that I don't believe you have the legal authority to trespass upon someone else's private real property to tow or repo an automobile (obviously, if the car driven by person A is illegally parked on real property owned by person B, you're legal as long as you have the permission of person B).

The whole argument to me comes down to which "right" is more important:

The right of a lender to recoup his money by reclaiming personal property.

The right of "parties in possession" (i.e. owner/renter) of real property to be free from trespass by others onto said real property.

And to a lesser degree there is question of whether it's prudent to conduct snatch-n-grab repos on public or third-party private property when doing so can look very much like theft.

Um, I think I might might not have comunicated my thoughts and opinions very well, or my post was misinterpeted. Gee wiz guys, I was just trying to share a little of the joy that is driving a wrecker with ya'll. I seem to recall A.R. inquiring about the removal of a vehicle without the "owner's consent" and while my type of tows are not repos (hey that rhymes!) I thought there were some simularities shared and I would share a little peak into my world with you.
I've re-read my posts and I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would get the idea that I needed to be scolded about the fact that I could not use force or intimitation or call someone a poopy-head or whatever.
What would I do if the owner jumped in the car or a human chain was formed you ask?
I'll do what I always do because this happens sometimes - well I've yet to see a human chain but the former occurs now and then. When the owner of a car I'm towing jumps in it, I a: bring my wrecker to a safe stop. b: order a pizza. c: call the cops and tell them I've got some idiot acting like a child. When the pizza arrives I offer some to the person acting like an idiot. When the cops arrive I offer them pizza too. The the Officer informs the person acting like an idiot that they can either pay me to drop the car or get out and allow me to do my job.
Did I mention that there are cut and dry laws and regulations I must follow? There are and I do.
I think I'm detecting a some anti-wrecker driver emotions here, or perhaps I'm misinterpeting what I'm reading as I was misinterpeted.
If that is this case, let me just say I am in complete agreement with the fact that I must follow the law and must play nice with all.
Now, about those filthy repo scoundrals! Just who do they think they are retrieving stolen property and returning it to it's rightfull owners/lein holders???!!!
Kill 'em all and let the bank sort it out! (Just kidding- sort of)

Want to add: I know that a repo man has to have some sort of order issued by the court, and they have to inform the local PD very soon after the repo has been performed.

McKnife wrote:Are there no previous cases of Repo men being shot while retrieving property? I bet there are many.

Would someone (who has better internet search skills than me) look up previous cases of Repo men being shot and the outcome of the case. I'd be interested to see the results.

I don't care who or what is on my property... they will very likely be shot if I feel threatened.

My internet skills are not so great (my phone is a lot smarter than I am for instance) but I can give you some clues to google in regards to the subject.
A few years ago here in Houston an off-duty (former? I can't remember) Houston fire fighter shot and killed a repo man. (Side note: check out the old cult classic movie "Repo Man" - but I digress, as usual)
The fire fighter got off with a pretty light sentence from what I can remember. I saw the repo man's father driving his pickup with a large sign in the bed that read something along the lines of "A Houston fireman shot and killed my son and got away with it". Really sad, I wasn't there so I won't judge but I recall the incident took place in broad daylight and there was no doubt as to the fact that it was a repo and not theft.
A.R., I don't know about regulation re: "repo" in Texas but I can tell you that the Towing industry is regulated big time. Check out "The Texas Department of Licencing and Regulation" website.
They can fine me hundreds or thousands of dollars for so much as passing gas in the wrong musical note.
About this entering someone's property stuff let me just say that personally I would never in a million years do that. We're on the same page there. I won't even back my wrecker into a driveway to turn around because I don't want to get shot at any more than I have been already (but that's for another post).

My initials are M.C., and I tow - a lot. Hence the screen name.
While I don't do any repo's (that I know of anyway) I do tow vehicles that are parked in reserved spots or parking lots or areas that require a permit of some sort to park in. Many times I am told I don't have the right to "take someone's property" ie: the vehicle that should not be parked from where I'm towing it from. So I hope in your eyes my type of towing fits in this thread.
In my gig, I'm actually "giving" my client the use of their property (the parking spot that they paid big bucks to have reserved for them) by removing someone else's property (their car that should not have parked in my clients parking space). Thankfully, the laws regarding all of this are laid out cut and dry as the tow lobby is alive and well in Texas.
I was going to post something at the end of this like, "let the bashing begin" but I thought about it and IMHO most of ya'll probably pay attention to signage and respect other peoples property rights so I'm not expecting too much - but bring it on if you feel like it! :)
I do want to add that all of the property's I work are in complience regarding posted signs at each entry point. (sound like any other signage requirements you know of ?)
Parking in somebody elses reserved spot would be like somebody parking in your driveway, leaving you with no parking place. I have in fact been called to remove vehicles from homeowners (or renters) driveways. Often this it turns out to be drunken neighbors parking at the wrong house after somehow making it "home" wasted out of their minds.
I should mention that when I'm removing unwanted cars at night I turn on all the lights on my wrecker - strobes and floodlights - to avoid anyone thinking I'm "steeling" a car. I want to add more but someones parked in the wrong spot again so I gotta go!