ESPN's Britt McHenry is Not Nice....

On Carolla's podcast today, they played a mashup of McHenry, the Christian Bale meltdown and the Cat Stevens song Father and Son.

Pretty funny stuff...

 

1. I sued my ex-landlord once in small claims because he was refusing to give back my security deposit. After I sued him, he counter sued and claimed that I had given him a longer notice than I actually did, wanted me to pay for the real estate company to find another tenant and for some BS damage he said we had done to the bathroom floor.

We took pictures of the whole apartment when we left, had taken pictures of the bathroom floor which showed that it was already messed up before we were there and brought copies of the written notice that I had given him.

The judge basically shredded him, and awarded us our deposit. And yes, the landlord did pay.

2. While I haven't had my car towed away yet (knock on wood), I did once get a parking ticket thrown out once in college. I had gone to class, then went and retrieved my car because I had some errands to run in town. I had to stop at the administration building to drop off some paperwork so I parked in one of the visitor's spots, since it was only going to be a minute or two. Came back and found the ticket officer writing me a ticket. She said she saw me park it, and that since I was a student, I wasn't allowed to park there. I pointed out that I had business in the building, which made me not just a student, but a visitor, and that if I had business in the office, then I should be allowed to park there. She finished writing me up, I decided to appeal it, using that argument. Got the ticket tossed.

3. Got a speeding ticket. Cop said I was going 30 in a 20 mph school zone. The rest of the road around the school was 30. I went to court, prosecutor was annoyed that I wanted to plead not guilty. In other words, I'm not following the crowd of ticket reducers and I'm going to actually make them work to take my money. So I get a new court date, meaning I have to go a second time, to ensure the cop is there.

So, in a second court date, after waiting several hours for the other cases to file through, cop comes, tells the judge about my 30 in a 20. I show the judge pictures of the 20 mph sign, in which underneath, is a sign that says "school open Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4 pm". I then show the judge the ticket, which was written at 5-something pm, and told him that legally, the zone was a 30 zone other than during that time on the sign.

Prosecutor tries to say that the school sign was advisory, to which I reply that it should have been a yellow color, not the white color that it was. Judge looks apologetically at the cop and prosecutor and says that I made my point. Ticket tossed.

So there's three examples of me winning legal arguments. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but there are ways to win cases that may not seem obvious which the system is counting on you not to know how to do.

 

At least we all know how Baron uses his vacation days.

 

For a few hundred dollars, the thief doesn't need to be a middle class wage earner. It also shouldn't cost the plaintiff anything other than some time and effort finding out where the thief works. If anything, ask them where they work during the small-claims court hearing. Of course, they may not have a job and you're out of luck, but it's worth a try.

 

http://www2.apwa.net//Documents/About/TechSvcs/LYNCHBURG_TOWING_SPECS.pdf

Nothing but lines of text.

You don't want anyone who is a sex offender doing the work? That takes about 60 words.

 

Actually,it's one of the few benefits to working nights. I don't have to take off work to go to court.

 

Hey, I'm all ears, and I'm sure the rest of the board is, too. Tell us how you'd conjure it (the waiving of towing/storage fees for victims of auto thefts). But make sure it covers the situation you endured EXACTLY.

 

The slip that the tow company creates for the vehicle, which is referred by the police department, would have a single box that would state was the owner of this vehicle the victim of a crime.

Yes - no charge

No - charge them

The impound lot holds the car for a specified amount of time (72 hours?) after notification of the owner before being charged.

And, yes, they are perfectly capable of holding a vehicle without charging for it.

This really isn't that complicated.

 

So... to KISS it for you...

Mr. 93, this is Fairfax impound at 8798 Oh MY Stars Way. We have your vehicle for you. It was recovered by the Fairfax police department at 2 a.m. on Monday. You have 72 hours to pick it up from our lot. Please have a valid driver's license with you when you pick it up.

When I pick it up, they do everything the same without taking my money.

 

Why would the tow truck company tow it for free?

Does your insurance company not cover the cost of the tow?

 

You're right, it doesn't seem that complicated ... but I suspect it is. Why? Because since I've wandered down this path I haven't come across a single towing ordinance (state or local) that waives towing/storage fees for stolen vehicles.

The towing and storage is as much a cost of the recovery of a stolen vehicle as are the costs to repair any damage. Which is why comprehensive policies cover this. If you don't have comprehensive coverage and your car gets stolen, you don't expect the body shop to waive its repair fees. Similarly, you shouldn't expect the towing/storage company to do likewise.

 

See Zag's post above.