[Ostrogoth]

Towing companies (and some apartment complexes) are essentially just organized crime. An apartment complex I lived in instituted a convoluted parking system utilizing colored mirror hang tags. Each unit received one exclusive parking spot (required to display a red tag only), and the remaining parking was first come first serve (but must display a yellow tag). There was never enough free parking, and tenants routinely parked overnight in fire lanes. My partner and I worked opposite shifts, so we usually only needed our designated spot, but sometimes were unable to swap tags due to schedules. Tow companies would roam the complex at night (let in through the gate by security), and haul off any vehicle without a red tag in designated spots, while ignoring vehicles in fire lanes and other no parking zones. The first time it happened, I thought my car had been stolen (why would I even think it was towed? I didn’t call to have someone removed from my own parking spot). I only found out after contacting apartment management for surveillance video. After the second time this happened (I’m a slow learner), I trudged over to the office, walking past several cars parked in the fire lane that had been there overnight. The manager stuck to their guns, stating that rules were rules, and I had broken them. I helpfully pointed out the vehicles still in the fire lane just outside the door, and asked if I should just leave my designated spot unoccupied and take up a free space (thereby using up two spaces) just to “follow the rules.” They had the gall to say it wasn’t fair to tow the fire lane violators, since there wasn’t enough parking for everyone. So it made more sense for them to endanger tenants lives. The ludicrousness of the situation made me suspicious that the apartment employees were getting kickbacks from the towing companies. It was the only scenario that made sense, other than mass idiocy.