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I have a question. My friend goes to U of R and parked his car off campus. For a number of reasons he was forced to park his car on campus for a few weeks but he did not have a parking permit, nor did he sign a parking agreement with the campus. This parking agreement states that he will follow all U of R's parking regulations and pay any fines for breaking such regulations. During this few week periods, he received 7 U of R parking tickets (non-city traffic tickets) at which time his car was booted, towed, and impounded. They are now asking him to pay $400 or he will not get his car back. Because he did not sign a contract with U of R in regards to obeying their traffic regulations, do they have the right to hold his car until he pays? In effect without authorization from the city they are stealing his car if they refuse to release it to him without delay or charge. This is based on the laws in Phoenix Arizona. I want to verify that this is the case in Rochester NY. Please, if possible include the specific law in your answer. You guys are great for putting up a web site like this. No one was able to provide an answer to this question, not even the police.
I do not deal with impounds, so this is just my personal opinion. IMO, law has little to do with it. He parked on private property without permission (parking permit). He received 6 (six!;) warnings before his car was impounded. One would assume this would be fair warning that he did indeed need a parking permit to park on the private property. What other remedy did the university have than to impound after six warnings?

Im most places, if you park on private property without permission, your vehicle will be towed immediately. No tickets, no warnings, no nothing.

I'm going to suggest your buddy pony up the 400 bucks, and if he wants to continue to park on the campus, to purchase the parking permit.

As far as the police, it isn't really a police matter. Again, this all occured on private property, and it's fairly obvious your buddy was in the wrong.
I think Jason said it all. I'm wondering, If the friend knew all policies on campus what did he think was going to happen.
I noticed you compared it to a case in arizona,the traffic laws at universities very from state to state!but i do agree with what jason stated! your friend was ignorant in disobeying the campus parking laws!
I agree with Jason. A private property owner (the school) has the right to impound cars that they don't think belong on their property.

If the payment is for the impound, then yes, they can hold the car until he pays. However, I don't think they can hold the car for unpaid traffic tickets issued by campus police.

If you think the impound was improper, contact the district court and inquire about an impound validity hearing. Most jurisdictions have some sort of hearing process available for people who get impounded.
I understand that he was in the wrong for parking on private property but that is not this issue. The issue is that a private organization does not have the right to hold your car indefinitely in order to force payment of fines that were not written by a government authorities, i.e. the police etc. The bulk of the cost of the $400 came from the tickets that they want him to pay.
If a person parked on my property next to a restricted parking sign that I posted, and I started writing tickets telling him he owes me $40. Then, I have his car towed and booted until he pays me, I would be breaking the law by holding his car because I'm not an authorized by the government as a private citizen to hold another private citizens property. That is called stealing and under Arizona law the party who owns the car can get the car out of impound and it's up to the party who claims losses to pursue compensation through the courts. I am not sure if this applies under NY state law but thats why im writing this. Please respond to this and if possible provide actual legal reference. Thanks a bunch in advance for your help.
Dude you need to understand that they impounded your friends car per authority of campus police and its legal to do so!
Quote (JunkDNA @ Oct. 05 2005, 8:21 pm)
I understand that he was in the wrong for parking on private property but that is not this issue. The issue is that a private organization does not have the right to hold your car indefinitely in order to force payment of fines that were not written by a government authorities, i.e. the police etc. The bulk of the cost of the $400 came from the tickets that they want him to pay.
If a person parked on my property next to a restricted parking sign that I posted, and I started writing tickets telling him he owes me $40. Then, I have his car towed and booted until he pays me, I would be breaking the law by holding his car because I'm not an authorized by the government as a private citizen to hold another private citizens property. That is called stealing and under Arizona law the party who owns the car can get the car out of impound and it's up to the party who claims losses to pursue compensation through the courts. I am not sure if this applies under NY state law but thats why im writing this. Please respond to this and if possible provide actual legal reference. Thanks a bunch in advance for your help.

I completely agree. I assumed the car was impounded by a state licenced towing company that is only interested in collecting their towing fees.

If they are holding the car for tickets issued by campus police, I don't believe that it is legal unless campus police police are commissioned police officers.

Perhaps you should call the police and report the car stolen, or contact the student union.
Big Bob, you might want to rethink the amount of authority you are assigning to campus security. They have no more executive power than a security guard. They are not official government agents of any kind and as such have no more authority than you or I. They only have authority granted to them by U of R which is a private university. This power grants them the right to have the car towed but no right to hold the car until the U of R tickets are paid.
Quote (JunkDNA @ Oct. 06 2005, 12:25 am)
Big Bob, you might want to rethink the amount of authority you are assigning to campus security. They have no more executive power than a security guard. They are not official government agents of any kind and as such have no more authority than you or I. They only have authority granted to them by U of R which is a private university. This power grants them the right to have the car towed but no right to hold the car until the U of R tickets are paid.

I beg to tell you they are state sworn police officers who patrol and keep the laws of campuses!unless its a community college then they are security guards, but if its a university then they are sworn policemen so therefore if it should be a community college then your friend has every right to get the police involved in the situation!there are three of us here in this forum who are former police officers and we kinda know the laws!so hope this helps! :thumb:
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