Seattle mayor sides with drivers against greedy tow companies

The mayor of Seattle thinks what a towing company charged Chris Swanicke shouldn’t be legal.

He parked his Mazda truck outside his apartment building on Capitol Hill in a spot he shouldn’t have. Swanicke paid for his mistake: $798 for the tow bill.

“When I saw it was towed, I thought ‘That’s my own fault, I guess,'” he told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Dori Monson Show.

But nearly $800 for the tow, weekend rates, and storage? Mayor Mike McGinn admits that’s a little steep.

“We are looking at what steps we can take to protect Seattleites from predatory towing practices and charges. I’ve asked my staff and the Law Department to look into this further to see if there is any action the City can take to regulate or curb these rates,” the mayor said in a news release after reading the story in The Seattle Times.

Rather than fight the fees, Swanicke said he felt like he had to hurry up and pay the fee before it got any more expensive to store his truck on the lot.

“They will charge you more and more days, eventually they’ll sell your car at auction. Really, you have no choice but to pay immediately and get it over with.”

Swanicke is a 25-year-old recent college graduate just starting his first real job, but said he’s thankful he’ll be able to pay off the bill through his credit card, even though it costs more than one month’s rent.

“I’m able to make it, but there are plenty of people who can’t put it on their credit card who are in a tight spot.”

While Dori said he’s glad the mayor is speaking out about the exorbitant towing fees, he said he fears the tow companies could go to the property owners and government and say ‘Hey, let us charge these rates and we’ll give you a kick back.'”

“When you have business and government colluding against us, that’s when we have to be very wary.”

But, according to McGinn’s statement, he also wants to “review the City’s own policies/contracts with towing companies that tow vehicles on City property and City streets.”