CHARLOTTE — LeeAnn Smallwood lives at Waterford Creek Apartments in east Charlotte.
“I came outside and I looked for my car and it was gone,” Smallwood said.
Like a lot of complexes, hers has strict rules for parking.
For example: your car needs a current registration or it could end up towed. Smallwood admits hers had expired.
“I moved down here from New York,” she said. “So I was in the process of getting it reregistered.”
So, she went to retrieve her ride and said she had sticker shock. There was an impound fee, gate fee, storage fee, administration fee and special equipment fee. For a total of more than $1,160.
“The price of $1,100 sounds very excessive,” said Charlie Hands III, an attorney.
Smallwood happens to work for Hands.
“That fact that something like $1,100 being the initial upfront cost as soon as it was towed just sounds predatory to me,” said Hands.
The tow company, Kings Ton Towing, wouldn’t tell Channel 9 how much, citing privacy reasons. But they emailed Jason Stoogenke what they did was perfectly legal.
That the property authorized the tow.
That their “invoices reflect standard” pricing.
And that their “goal is to keep properties safe and accessible by enforcing the rules consistently and lawfully.”
CLICK HERE for more Action 9 reports
“I was totally upset,” Smallwood said.
So Kings Ton dropped to the price of $675, but Smallwood told Channel 9 that was still too steep.
She was already saving up for a new car. So she decided to put the money toward the new one and forgers about the old one.
Bottom line: make sure you know your lease.
As said earlier, apartments tend to reserve themselves the right to tow if your tag is expired. After all, they don’t want junk cars.
You may be able to argue your case breaks consumer protection law. But that’s if you have the stomach for suing.
VIDEO: “Wasn’t trying to get away with something”: Driver surprised car towed
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
