As a business owner, keeping your parking lot space open for your customers is ever important. Even though you may not necessarily want to, there can be times when you have to reach out to a towing service to have vehicles removed from your business property. Whether you have vehicles that are abandoned or there are people who are parking their vehicles on the lot that are not your customers, these are typically good reasons to have a vehicle towed. However, during a pandemic, there can be certain things that change about how general services function and towing services may be one of them. Here are a few things to know about car removal during a pandemic.
Towing moratorium may be in place to disallow towing certain vehicles.
During a pandemic, some locations can enact what is referred to as a towing moratorium. This is a legal action set forth by local governing agencies that dictate when and how vehicles can be towed from business properties. During this time, depending on the terms of the moratorium, vehicles may not be able to be towed if an individual is using the vehicle for transportation or for shelter.
For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, some locations did enact a towing moratorium because of the need for some people to shelter in place and their vehicles were their primary forms of shelter. In other words, vehicles may technically be in use as a means of protection from getting sick, so a business owner could not call and have the vehicle towed if someone was living in it.
Try harder to get in touch with the owner of a suspected abandoned vehicle before having it towed.
During a pandemic, many people will be facing the loss of employment or specific costs that they normally don't have. Therefore, having their vehicle towed can be an added expense that they cannot afford. Even though you do need the added parking space, it is important that you try harder to get in touch with the individual to have the vehicle moved.
If you live in a state that normally requires this, you will have to try to notify the owner anyway. But if you live in a state that allows the towing of an abandoned vehicle without prior owner notification, it is still a nice gesture when a lot of people are facing serious financial issues.
Contact a towing service for more information about what is allowed or not allowed during a pandemic.
