Homeless woman slapped with $21K towing bill

The car is not particularly special. It’s not something a collector would prize. But to Amanda Ogle, who is homeless, this 1991 Toyota Camry was home until it was towed.

The Seattle Times’ Danny Westneat was the first to report on the legal limbo that Ogle had to navigate in order to get her car back from a tow company. The company would not return the car, and ultimately sold it. Ogle triumphed in court, forcing the company to hand over her car after a year. But when she did get the car back, she was stuck with a tow bill of $21,634.

Ogle’s story involved one hit after another. She was a vet tech for years, but eventually ran into some physical problems. She became a receptionist after that and eventually had to have neck surgery. That gave her further complications and she had to quit her job.

Then Ogle lost her apartment. She couldn’t stay with her mom because she lives in a senior housing building. For a while, Ogle managed by staying at a shelter in the evenings and staying with her mom during the daytime.

In October 2017, Ogle’s car was stolen when it was parked in front of her mom’s place.

“And I told (the police) that if they find it, to not tow it because I can’t afford the towing fees, because I’m homeless and unemployed,” Ogle said. “Of course, the thieves drove it all the way to Sea-Tac and parked it in some lady’s parking space at her apartment building.”

That lady had the car towed. The towing company found out it was stolen and eventually Ogle was notified that her car was found.

“So I called them and they said it would be $427 to get it out and I explained my situation,” she said. “They said ‘come down here to get paperwork so you can go to court and see what the judge says about that.’”

“In the meantime, I would call them and I would cry and explain my situation and they were just being jerks to me and said it doesn’t matter,” Ogle said.

The company wasn’t budging. Her car remained locked away, so she filed the paperwork to go to court anyway.

Ogle got her day in court last December where the judge ordered the tow company to return the car. But when Ogle went to get her car from the tow company, she found out that they had sold it one month prior.

“So I’m jumping through all these hoops … and the last thing I said to the gal on the phone is ‘if you sell my car before we go to court, you guys are going to be in trouble,’” Ogle said. “And two weeks later, they sold my car at auction, before the court date.”

That’s when Attorney Kevin Eggers with the Northwest Consumer Law Center stepped in. It’s a non-profit that helps low-income individuals with consumer protection issues. Towing is a common problem they encounter.

“Ms. Ogle didn’t illegally park it,” Eggers said. “She didn’t have parking tickets or anything. It was no fault of hers that this was towed … the law is actually not on the side of consumers. If you get your car stolen and that person joy rides your car around and leaves it somewhere, and it gets towed, you are still on the hook for that.”

It was fortuitous in this case, Eggers notes, that Ogle was able to challenge the towing.

“They are required to give you a form to challenge towing and it’s great she was able to do that, but most people don’t take that chance and sometimes they get turned down by the court anyway,” he said.

It took one year, but Ogle eventually got her car back this week. The towing company charged her $75 a day over the 370 days she was without the car.

Ogle says she is now going to park her car at a friend’s home. Her tabs are expired and if she parks it on the street, it could get towed again.

MyNorthwest contributed to this article.

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