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https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/24/20696405/dockless-scooters-share-repo-men-repossessor-lawsuit-tow-yard-lime-bird-lyft-uber-razor
This is an article about a couple men who, at the request of property owners who have found scooters on their property, take the scooters and lock them up until fees are paid to repossess them, basically exactly like what happens to your car if you park is inappropriately.
There are lawsuits. Here is their summary of the lawsuits:
“”If you take all the BS that they’ve thrown out, and you take our BS, and you take it down, it’s a very simple concept,” Heinkel says. “They have taken their stuff and placed it on someone else’s property without permission.”
“Now that’s them, and here’s us. We’re two guys who went to the property owners and got permission with that property owner to remove that stuff off their property. That’s all it is.”
I do not know the relevant law in the location they work in. However, I have encountered the concept of repossession and towing and so forth the hard way myself, and also when I was asked to help someone get their car back. On the repo side, there are always rules and regulations. It is important that they follow them. On the property left on someone’s property who did not agree to that property being left there, well, property owner calling someone to remove it who has followed the rules and regulations associated with removing it is exactly the right behavior, and the way we avoid having property owners destroy property that was, say, stolen and then dumped.
Potentially working against the repo guys are California specific laws about predatory towing. There is not enough detail in the article to be sure that they have not been guilty of that — and there is also the interesting question of whether or not the scooters are subject to the towing law.
I am not a lawyer; none of this is legal advice. Here is more not legal advice from lifehacker about things left on one’s property:
https://lifehacker.com/what-to-do-with-stuff-someone-left-at-your-place-1826115025
I do not see Lime, Bird, etc. winning this thing in any meaningful way. And wow, that is a terrible motto for a business, saying you can leave the thing anywhere. Also, the idea that the people who recharge the scooters are breaking into impound lots and removing impounded items?!? That, right there, pretty sure that is a pretty serious violation.
A very cursory look at, what if someone leaves something in my yard and then does not come back for it in the agreed upon time suggests that calling a repo guy to store it safely is actually a pretty good choice. The owner of the property where it was abandoned has met their obligations not to destroy it, and the repo guys are handling the notification requirements. Someone has to pay for the costs associated with that; might as well be the owner of the property when they come to retrieve it, or, I guess, they could auction it off. Might lead to a whole new side business?
This is an article about a couple men who, at the request of property owners who have found scooters on their property, take the scooters and lock them up until fees are paid to repossess them, basically exactly like what happens to your car if you park is inappropriately.
There are lawsuits. Here is their summary of the lawsuits:
“”If you take all the BS that they’ve thrown out, and you take our BS, and you take it down, it’s a very simple concept,” Heinkel says. “They have taken their stuff and placed it on someone else’s property without permission.”
“Now that’s them, and here’s us. We’re two guys who went to the property owners and got permission with that property owner to remove that stuff off their property. That’s all it is.”
I do not know the relevant law in the location they work in. However, I have encountered the concept of repossession and towing and so forth the hard way myself, and also when I was asked to help someone get their car back. On the repo side, there are always rules and regulations. It is important that they follow them. On the property left on someone’s property who did not agree to that property being left there, well, property owner calling someone to remove it who has followed the rules and regulations associated with removing it is exactly the right behavior, and the way we avoid having property owners destroy property that was, say, stolen and then dumped.
Potentially working against the repo guys are California specific laws about predatory towing. There is not enough detail in the article to be sure that they have not been guilty of that — and there is also the interesting question of whether or not the scooters are subject to the towing law.
I am not a lawyer; none of this is legal advice. Here is more not legal advice from lifehacker about things left on one’s property:
https://lifehacker.com/what-to-do-with-stuff-someone-left-at-your-place-1826115025
I do not see Lime, Bird, etc. winning this thing in any meaningful way. And wow, that is a terrible motto for a business, saying you can leave the thing anywhere. Also, the idea that the people who recharge the scooters are breaking into impound lots and removing impounded items?!? That, right there, pretty sure that is a pretty serious violation.
A very cursory look at, what if someone leaves something in my yard and then does not come back for it in the agreed upon time suggests that calling a repo guy to store it safely is actually a pretty good choice. The owner of the property where it was abandoned has met their obligations not to destroy it, and the repo guys are handling the notification requirements. Someone has to pay for the costs associated with that; might as well be the owner of the property when they come to retrieve it, or, I guess, they could auction it off. Might lead to a whole new side business?