Opinion No. (2004)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General SUSAN DUNCAN LEE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE GREGORY D. TOTTEN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, COUNTY OF VENTURA, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a private security firm, pursuant to a contract with a property owner, immobilize a vehicle that is impermissibly parked in a private parking lot by affixing a "boot" device to the vehicle? CONCLUSION A private security firm, acting pursuant to a contract with a property owner, may not immobilize a vehicle that is impermissibly parked in a private parking lot by affixing a "boot" device to the vehicle. ANALYSIS Scarcity of convenient parking spaces is a familiar source of frustration for many drivers and property owners in cities and towns throughout California. The frustration may become particularly acute in the case of a business that maintains free off-street parking spaces for the use of its customers and clients, such as a medical facility, restaurant, or theatre, or for an apartment complex or condominium development that maintains free parking spaces for the use of its residents and their visitors. When available parking spaces in an area are limited in number, drivers sometimes…