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(a) Any trespass towing company, and any private property owner who authorizes, expressly or under a standing authorization, the towing of a vehicle from private property, are liable for violation of any duty imposed on the company or owner by this Chapter with regard to:
(1) any towing of a vehicle that does not comply with this Chapter;
(2) any towing of a vehicle in the mistaken belief that the vehicle was not authorized to park in the place from which it was towed; and
(3) any damages to a towed vehicle incurred during the tow or storage and caused by a lack of reasonable care by the towing company, the property owner or an agent of either.
(b) A property owner is not liable for the towing of a vehicle if the property owner did not expressly authorize the towing, and does not otherwise have a business relationship with the towing company.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b), a property owner and a towing company are jointly and severally liable for the violation of any duty imposed by this Chapter on the towing company, with a right of contribution or indemnification.
(d) A vehicle owner must mitigate any damages recoverable under this Chapter.
(e) Damages payable under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) are three times the amount of any towing, release or storage fees charged. (1988 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
A towing company must not pay or offer to pay a property owner, and a property owner must not accept payment, for authorizing the towing of a vehicle from any private property. (1988 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
(a) The Office of Consumer Protection and the Montgomery County Police Department enforce this Chapter.
(b) A police officer or Office of Consumer Protection investigator may order a towing company to release a vehicle, or to stop attaching a vehicle, at any time to prevent a breach of the peace or if the investigator or officer has reasonable cause to believe that the tow would be or was unlawful.
(c) The Office may issue subpoenas to compel the production of documents, papers, books, records, and other evidence relevant to the investigation of a complaint filed with the Office in any matter to which this Chapter applies.
(1) If any person does not comply with any subpoena issued under this Chapter, the County may enforce the subpoena by appropriate legal action.
(2) Any court with jurisdiction may grant injunctive or other appropriate relief to enforce a subpoena.
(3) A person must comply with any subpoena issued under this Chapter.
(d) Any violation of this Chapter is a Class A violation. The maximum civil fine is $500 for a first offense, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
(a) Applicability. A person must not immobilize a motor vehicle owned by another person on private property, without the consent of the vehicle owner.
(b) Civil remedy. Any person whose vehicle has been unlawfully immobilized, unlawfully held after being lawfully immobilized, or damaged while immobilized, may recover from the owner of the property or any other person responsible for immobilizing the vehicle, in a civil action, the greater of:
(1) all actual damages sustained; or
(2) liquidated damages of $100.
This remedy does not replace or limit any other remedy available by law. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)