DETROIT (WXYZ) — Tenants say they had no clue they were supposed to park in specific sections in the parking garage because the apartment building did not provide sufficient notice about moving their cars. Now, they're on the hook for hundreds of dollars after their cars were towed.
“This is predatory, this is unacceptable, and this is outright wrong and we as citizens of the city of Detroit should not stand for this,” said Darryl Woods.
Woods was one of several tenants still reeling after his SUV was towed from the Jefferson parking garage. And the sticker shock is eye-popping.
Woods: I beat my car there
WXYZ: You got there before your car got there, and they still charged you $825?
Woods: $825, and because I didn't have the exact change, I mustered up $840, and they said they have no change for me.
Woods says about a dozen vehicles were towed. Morris Mays says two belong to him.
“I've had my car towed or known people who have had cars towed in suburban areas, and it could've been $100, $150, but here in Detroit with this Goch towing company, they want $825 a car. So, they trying to get $1,700 to $1,800 out of me,” said Mays.
We spotted a notice taped near the main elevator inside the building, but tenants say it doesn't stand out' there are different points of entry into the building, and The Jefferson normally tapes important notices to tenants' doors or slides notices underneath them. That was not the case this week.
We contacted management at The Jefferson but have not yet heard back. Goch and Sons provided a statement saying:
This was not a normal tow. It required retrieving vehicles from one of the lowest parking structures in Detroit, where standard tow trucks cannot enter. These parked vehicles have no keys and cannot be put into neutral; because of this, the wheels do not roll. Higher costs occur due to the specialized equipment required to tow without damages. Each vehicle takes approximately 2-3 hours from start to finish.
Each low-clearance impound requires;
- A low-clearance Hilo (Forklift) with a special wheel lift attachment.
- A truck to transport the Hilo
- Specialized Dollies for electric, 4x4, all-wheel drive, and vehicles in which the drive wheels are inaccessible.
- A truck to transport the vehicles from the scene to the police department for the legal procedures, and then to our yard.
- A driver for each truck and a Hilo operator.
- A dispatcher to dispatch the call.
- An employee to process the release to the registered owner.
- A yard employee to release the vehicle to the owner.
- In addition, all other overhead expenses.
We were informed the residents parking in the structure were notified by the management office multiple times of the construction weeks in advance. They were instructed to remove their vehicles.
City of Detroit contracted towing companies can only charge $200 to impound a vehicle. Goch and Sons is not a city-contracted towing company.
