Just 39 minutes after Rudy Marquez’s car was towed, Superior Towing handed him a $410 bill. The 20-year-old Santa Fe College computer science junior said he didn’t have enough time or money to walk away unscathed.
Superior Towing, a local towing company, makes up the majority of nonconsensual tows in Gainesville, according to Mayor Harvey Ward. The company charged Marquez Aug. 31 after he parked at College Park at Midtown apartments with an expired pass. Marquez admitted he parked illegally, but he said Superior Towing’s practices are no better.
“I mean, it's not only about me,” he said. “It's how many other students are going through this same exact thing right now.”
His invoice listed a $160 base towing fee, the maximum allowed by Florida law, and a $250 lien fee. However, former Gainesville Police Department towing administrator Monica Jordan clarified during a Sept. 17 city commission meeting that Gainesville ordinances prohibit lien fees this high.
Superior Towing did not respond to multiple requests for comment via phone call.
A resolution passed June 1 caps lien fees at $75 after 48 hours and base tow rates at $160. It also allows for an additional $30 daily storage fee after the first six hours.
A lien fee accounts for towing companies’ administrative and legal costs. Superior Towing charges the state maximum and posts a sign in its window claiming the fee is set by the state and “cannot be changed, reduced, or modified by the City of Gainesville or any towing company.”
Ryan Samuels, a 19-year-old UF electrical engineering sophomore, said his car was towed two times for $410 each. Superior Towing employees told him the fee was automatic, he added.
“It's definitely frustrating,” Samuels said. “I understand why I got towed — it was my fault — but I didn't expect the price to be so high for the tow. I was pretty shocked when I saw the invoice they sent me.”
When drivers don’t immediately pick up their vehicles, the cost can be even higher.
Steven Reese, a 25-year-old microbiology and cell science student at Florida State College in Jacksonville, was in Gainesville visiting his girlfriend when his car was towed from College Park apartments. He said he was forced to pay Superior Towing $635.
Because Reese retrieved his car four days after it was towed, he was charged a daily impound rate, gate fee and second lien fee.
When Reese asked the towing company about each fee, what they meant and why he was charged, Superior Towing refused to explain further, he said.
“I'm usually pretty good with dealing with this,” Reese said, “but you feel hopeless when your vehicle's taken from you, and they're saying to get it back that you have to give them money that you don't really have.”
Complaints about illegal towing fees aren't unique to Gainesville.
A 50-year-old man is suing CommTow, a Tampa-based towing company, after they charged him the maximum lien fee of $250 despite his car being picked up within 48 hours. Like Alachua County, Hillsborough County requires towing companies to wait two days before charging lien fees.
The lawsuit against CommTow inspired Marquez, Samuels and Reese to consider filing a civil lawsuit against Superior Towing. They have each reached out to law firms in the area but have yet to file suits.
As it turns out, their efforts might not be necessary after all.
During a Sept. 17 city commission meeting, GPD Maj. Jamie Kurnick said the agency notified Superior Towing that its lien fees violate a Gainesville ordinance.
GPD issued the company a cease and desist, she added, warning Superior Towing that if it continues charging unauthorized fees, it may receive a civil citation and have its towing permit revoked or suspended.
Mayor Harvey Ward encourages anyone who believes they’ve been charged unauthorized fees to go to GPD directly. GPD offers a towing complaints portal for people to report illegal trespass towing.
“No city has the resources to just follow tow companies around and make sure they're doing the right thing, and most people don't know that there is a reporting mechanism if the wrong thing is being done to you,” Ward said. “So, that is the impetus for sweeping changes that we're making.”
Among changes made at the meeting was the commission’s vote to eliminate roam towing and booting. The ordinance, which requires an additional vote to pass, would only allow roam towing and booting to be conducted under the direction of law enforcement or on government property.
“This is going to be more specific, like many other cities are,” Ward said. “If you park in the wrong place, there's an excellent chance that your car will be towed or immobilized, but it won't be because a random tow truck driver just happened to see you there and take a chance.”
Contact Julia Miller at jmiller@alligator.org. Follow her on X @juliamill30.
Julia Miller is a freshman journalism student at UF working as a general asignment reporter on the metro desk. This is her first semester with The Alligator and in her free time, she enjoys watching movies, reading, and spending time with her friends.
