The pound takes their car… parked in their residence!

Even at home the pound can come and pick up our car for us. In any case, this is what happened to Cédric and Laeticia, in Toulouse, on August 7th. Yet parked in the parking lot of their private residence, they were surprised to have to pick up their vehicle at the municipal depot. In total, they were fined 300 euros.

Their car gets taken away

When they returned from vacation, the owners of the car in question were quickly disillusioned. Glad to be back home, they quickly realized that their vehicle was no longer parked where they had left it. The facts took place in the Ancely district and respond to a new rule put in place in the Ville Rose.

The cost of the fine is 35 euros and the costs of the impoundment must be added. Cédric entrusts to Toulouse news this news was not not at all included in the expenses : “It was a cold shower. We were returning from vacation and we had not considered these additional expenses. Very quickly, we learned that the municipal police had intervened to remove our vehicle. This vehicle was my wife’s. It had broken down and we were considering whether to repair it or part with it. He didn’t bother anyone, no neighbor had complained. Hence our great surprise, especially as the owner, we pay charges on these private parking spaces. This vehicle was parked ‘with us’…”

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Inconvenient parking, really?

You should know that a large number of residences dating from the 60s-70s and 80s do not have a closed car park in Toulouse. This explains why owners are exposed to national laws. He assures : “At the beginning of the year, the municipal police changed their approach. She now believes that any condominium that is not closed by a barrier is ‘open to the public’ (despite the ‘Private Property’ signs) and therefore applies the highway code. In fact, according to this code, any parking for more than 24 hours can be considered abusive. »

As far as Toulouse Métrople is concerned, the explanation is different: “The traffic lanes of the Ancely residence are open to traffic and the highway code applies there. It is a national law which is not new. The Mayor has the power to police traffic and parking on the entire public domain but also on private roads open to the public. This is the case here. Consequently, with regard to parking, removal is therefore possible for inconvenient parking or for abusive parking for more than 7 days (reduced to 24 hours by municipal decree of April 15, 1984)”.

The problem is that the car was quite dirty because it had been parked there for a long time. A local resident then reported him to an officer. No barrier being put in place, it was seized. Cédric was able to recover his car 15 days later after paying 30 euros in fines, 300 euros in impound fees, a new battery (the car was no longer moving). The vehicle was scrapped… Cédric hopes to be reimbursed for the impound costs and the cancellation of the fine.