My car was unfairly towed from my driveway – I didn’t owe money & it took over a year to get answers from operator

A MAN’s SUV had been paid off for years but was mysteriously towed in the middle of the night by the bank that issued the loan.

When a friend tried to ask why it was taken away, they hung up on her.

ABC 7

ABC 7

ABC 7

Gurjinder Singh’s Acura SUV was towed from the Harlem, New York City gas station he’s worked at for nearly 20 years in the middle of the night.

“When I go home and sleep like 1 a.m., like 2 a.m., and somebody is, like a tow truck company,” he told ABC affiliate WACB-TV .

“They come and they take my car.”

Adding more to the mystery, he came to find out his car was repossessed by the bank that issued his loan when he bought the car.

However, he’d paid off every cent of it in December of 2017.

“Why did they take it? That’s my question, why did they take my car,” asked Singh.

He told the outlet he tried for months to speak with someone at both the towing company and the bank, but neither was helpful.

“They were blaming each other,” he recalled.

Without a proper answer, he was left without a car.

Until Cristina Arroyo, who works at a nonprofit to help families of violent crime , heard Singh’s story.

She knows Singh from the gas station he works at, as she buys her weekly lottery ticket from him.

He showed her the repossession video and was stunned.

“I felt so bad. I’m like, this could happen to anyone. And he’s always here. I know he’s hard-working,” said Arroyo.

“He’s very polite when I come in, always so sweet. And I’m like, how could they do that? It’s not fair. That’s not fair.”

Why did they take it? That’s my question, why did they take my car.

Gurjinder Singh

Arroyo tried contacting the towing company and the bank on his behalf but was met with hostility.

“I said, ‘Okay, so send me proof of why his car was repossessed?’ Because you have to have a notice, some repossession, you know, a letter, something,” she said.

“‘Can you just provide me with that proof so I can have some for my records,’ right? And they hung up on me. I was like, I can’t believe they hung up. Yes, yes, they hung up on me.”

Backed up against a wall, Arroyo contacted WABC-TV reporters to aid in the investigation.

Arroyo noticed a mistake on the repossession notice that reporter Nina Pineda also noticed.

What to do if your car is towed

Wrongfully or not, retrieving a towed vehicle can be a hassle.

If your vehicle is towed after parking in a “No Parking” zone or other legitimate reason, there are a few steps to take to get it back.

Steps to take when your car is towed:

• Try to figure out why your car was towed. Did you not see a posted “No Parking” sign? Did you miss a car payment? Did you return to a lot where you have unpaid citations? Finding the reason can narrow down the phone numbers to dial.
• Locate the vehicle. Most states, cities, or counties require towing companies to leave some form of contact information via a posted sign or sent by mail.
• Recovery dates and times depend on the company that towed the vehicle, but those times will be posted to the website or can be recited by a representative.
• Pay the fees. Be careful to be as prompt as possible, as some tow yards may charge storage fees by the day.

If you feel your vehicle was wrongfully towed, contesting the action can be done with the following steps:

• Be prompt – many states have a small window of time where it’s acceptable to file a complaint against a company that wrongfully towed the vehicle.
• Gather supporting documents: photos, emails, receipts, police reports, and witness statements if applicable. The more evidence, the better.
• Get familiar with your local laws, as laws for towing companies vary per state.
• Try speaking with the towing company. Sometimes it may have been a simple oversight, and the matter can be resolved quickly.
• Contact the Justice of the Peace in your area, as they may have more insight or resources to help. They are often utilized for towing cases.
• Talk to a lawyer. Many lawyers have free case consultations, and depending on the case, it may be worth it to utilize a lawyer.

Source: Oregon Department of Justice , National General , Rak Law Firm

Singh’s name wasn’t on the form.

“That’s what he said, it doesn’t even have his name on it,” Arroyo said.

“Someone made a mistake somewhere here!”

Pineda contacted the finance company, who told her the car was repossessed due to a lien that wasn’t paid off by the previous owner.

Three days after the company was contacted, Singh’s car was returned along with a check for $25,000.

ABC 7