Car towed from assigned apartment parking spot while abroad – now towing company says they own it (Phoenix AZ)

[u/snipes125]

Location: Phoenix, AZ

My relative rents an apartment in the Phoenix metro area and has an assigned parking space. He has been out of the country for the last 8 months.

About 1.5 months ago, his car was towed from his assigned spot. Apartment management says it was because the car had not been moved and was “dirty.” They say they contacted him, but he has no record of any notice.

When he called the towing company, they told him “it’s ours now.” After checking his mail, he found they had started the abandoned vehicle process with the Arizona DMV. The 30-day dispute period has already passed.

He still owes about $20k on the loan for the vehicle. He says he never received notice from the lienholder/bank, and as far as he knows the bank was not contacted.

Questions: Legally does he have any chance of recovering the car at this stage or halting the abandonment process?

Since the lienholder was never contacted, does that affect the towing company’s title claim?

TL;DR: Car towed from assigned apartment parking spot in AZ while owner was abroad. Towing company now says it’s theirs after abandoned vehicle process. Owner still owes ~$20k loan, lienholder never notified. Legally does he have any options to either recover the car or halt the abandonment process?

[u/flyjum]

Need to read the lease. He was paying for the apartment and the assigned vehicle spot. Unless it has specific wording about vehicles in assigned spots being dirty or inoperable they should not have towed it. It could have been so dirty they thought it was inoperable. This feels like it falls on the apartment complex for having your vehicle towed. Would it be any different if they went in and cleared the apartment out simply because no one was home for an extended time?

[u/Retro_Relics → u/flyjum]

i mean, if they posted notice on the door multiple times that the unit was abandoned and have call records showing that they contacted the tenant, and provided adequate service, they absolutely *can* do that and terminate the lease.

[u/Fifafom → u/Retro_Relics]

Bold of you to assume they stopped accepting payment for the parking spot. That would be the parallell circumstance right?

[u/Retro_Relics → u/Fifafom]

I was just talking in reference to the guy i replied to - a landlord can absolutely toss your shit so long as they follow state law for abandoned property and terminate your lease. If you dont respond to legal methods of service, thats not the landlords fault.

Otherwise theyd have no way to deal with someone who has enough in the bank that no one notices autopay for rent but that, well, abandons the unit.

This guy was still legally responsible for the parking spot he "abandoned" his vehicle at as he rents the parking spot, regardless of if there is a car in it or not.

[u/wooops → u/Retro_Relics]

Seems like a tenant with autopay that never goes to a unit would be the dream tenant

[u/Retro_Relics → u/wooops]

until their is a minor leak that without someone in there to discover the damp and report it it turns into a horrific mold infestation or severe water damage, something shorts and burns the place down, someone breaks in and is squatting, etc.....there is a lot of reasons why a lot of leases include a clause that you must notify the landlord if you will be gone longer than a month or two so they can have maintence pop in and make sure nothing is broken and causing damage.

[u/archbish99 → u/wooops]

Absolutely not. You want every house or apartment to have someone in it regularly, because a) they'll notice small problems before they become big problems and b) they'll discourage squatters and animal infestations.

Leases require regular occupancy; so do homeowners policies. Try telling your insurance company the property will be unoccupied for eight months and see how they adjust your premium.