Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland
Vehicle held by Towing Co.
My father was in a car accident two weeks ago. He was rushed to shock trauma. On the following day my mother and I tried to obtain our valuables and tags from the car. The towing co. holding the car would not allow us to do that. They said only the registered owner could do so. We gave up because my father was not doing well; and he has since passed. Now (2 weeks later) we are trying again. I called the insurance company and they said we need to call the state police. I called the state police and they said we can bring them the title and death cert. and they'll give us the release. We also called the towing company and they want us to give them $150 plus the title to the vehicle. In my opinion, they are steeling the car and we should not owe them anything other than the standard towing fee. Because if they had been at all cooperative when we were trying to get our property from the car in the first place we would have obtained our possessions and told them they could have the car, but now they are trying to profit from our loss which is causing us undue stress during our time of grief.
Do I have any legal rights or case against them and would it be worthwhile to pursue or should I just pay them and move on?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Vehicle held by Towing Co.
What you needed to do, and may still need to do, is open an estate for your father. Once either you or your mother is appointed to represent the estate, you can sign the title over to the car; otherwise you have no legal authority to do so. If the car has any value, you should take it back, although it sounds like a total loss. Otherwise, it's not worth it fight over this, as long as you get your valuables and tags back.
You didn't indicate anything about the accident, but if your father wasn't at fault the estate should bring a claim against the insurance for the at fault driver or owner. You can contact me for further information about this.
Robert Sher
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