Letter To The Business Owner Who Towed My Car

Recently I had my car towed from a parking lot I thought was vacant. The owner of the lot towed my car and several others without notice. After picking up my car from the impound lot I decided to write a letter:

To The Owner of This Building:

Yesterday, August 13, 2014, my car was one of the several cars towed from this lot. Before you put this letter down, passing it off as an angry rant, I assure you it is not. It is also not a request for reimbursement of the fees required to regain my car. It is however, an attempt to make you see yesterday's events from a different perspective. I have no intentions of revealing the identity of myself or my car. I am just a 22 year old art student who believes people can change the world, and hope this letter will do just that.

Like many now and various others before me, I am a struggling college student. I use the word struggling because I live paycheck to paycheck, only have myself to rely on, work a job outside of school to supplement my income, and am currently 100 percent paying my own way through college. Like every other car owner parked in your lot yesterday, I was not expecting my car to be towed. It was the final event that topped of the not-so-great day, which completed the complicated month, which added to the challenging past six months. It was an unexpected inconvenience that quickly evolved into a financial set back. An event most have experienced at least once in life before. That being said, it was an event that most struggling college students (or anyone for that matter) have not set aside the time, energy, or finances for in advance. Its reach goes further than an unexpected inconvenience, it will now hinder me from having a place to live.

I feel the best way to prevent the above statement from sounding like an exaggerated claim is to share a quick synopsis of my current living situation. After making use of a relative's guest bedroom, it was requested that I move out by the end of the month. Having found an apartment that meets my needs, the current tenant in the apartment set aside for me extended his lease. My move-in date has been set back to next week as the apartment prepares another unit for me. I thought I had reached the end of a long complicated process but now have had to spend one third of the money I set aside for my initial move in fees to regain my car after it was towed. Due to this, I no longer have the funds to move into my apartment this month, even though by the end of the month I will potentially be homeless. I have no one to borrow the money from, as I mentioned above, I support myself.

I would like to end by saying I did not write this letter or share my story to gain pity. I did so to give you a real life example of those affected by your actions yesterday. I completely understand that you do have a sign posted but would also like to point out the fact that I have not seen any activity at your building since I have parked there off and on for the last six months while visiting my boyfriend. In the hopes of not coming of offensively, the lack of visible activity led me to believe that your lot was vacant and the sign was left over from a previous business. I am sure that many others arrived at the same conclusion and felt it was a safe place to park. Most of the cars parked in your lot belonged to visitors of students living in student housing, like myself (friends, family, girlfriends, etc.), or students (new students) living in student housing who do not have a way to get into the electronic gate and/or are waiting for the necessary parking pass to park inside the gate because there are no designated spots for temporary parking. I have no knowledge of what kind of business you own, but I would imagine like most businesses it started on the premise of helping people whether it be through offering a service or the sale of a product. I would also imagine that at one point or another you too have run into some type of hardships whether they be financial or otherwise, business related or personal. I am sure that you too have been the little guy. The person with no power who has had to take what life throws at you and move on; and that is exactly who I am writing this letter to, the little guy or girl who I know is still inside of you.

Although yesterdays' events have taken a good deal of the money necessary for me to have a place of my own and could potentially leave me homeless, there is someone out there affected by them who has just lost a car and has no way of regaining a possession that is rightfully theirs, just as in your eyes that lot is yours. As of yesterday I paid 150 dollars to regain my car. Failure to retrieve my car by noon today would have resulted in me being charged 30 dollars per day for everyday my car remained in the impound lot starting at noon. That equates to a 210 dollar fee if I chose to pick it up this Friday, 360 dollars if I chose to retrieve it in a week, and 750 dollars if I could not pick up my car until the first of September but had to get it on Tuesday because the first is a holiday. For someone who has the money that is a great deal of money, but for someone who doesn't have it and has to try to find it, it is a never ending financial spiral downward because even if they could borrow the money the amount is constantly going up and there is no guarantee they will receive adequate financial rescue by the time that they need it.

At the beginning of my letter I stated that I believe people can change the world and hoped that this letter would complete that task. My version of the world is your towing policy. In all honesty I hope this letter will make you consider not towing cars at all (even though that is more of a dream). I no longer have any intention of parking in your lot but I know there is great probability that others will because as I said before it is a frequent place for visitors of student housing and some residents to park. I just ask that after reading this letter you do gain the desire to at least put out a 24 hour written notice that you will be towing cars (if you still feel that the cars of struggling college students parking in your lot are a major inconvenience to you). Thank you for your time and hopefully you read this letter to the end.

Sincerely,

A 22 Year Old Struggling Art Student Who Feels People Can Change the World