City gathering evidence against unlicensed booting in Moncton

Legally, no one can place a boot to a vehicle in the city of Moncton.

The city passed a bylaw last spring requiringcompanies apply for a licence to install boots, which prevent vehicles from being driven away.

Now the city isgathering evidence of illegal booting to bring before the courts to stop companies from booting without a licence.

Nick Robichaud, the city'sgeneral manager of legal and legislative services, said no applications have been made and no company has a licence to boot cars in Moncton.

That hasn't stopped illegal booting from happening.

In September, Krissy Coleman's Chevy Malibu was towed and booted after she parked it in a near-empty lot for less than an hour while she was at a bar downtown.

She had to pay more than $300 to PSI Parking Solutions to get her car back. Robichaudsaid the city has been advised that it's the onlycompany booting cars in Moncton.

The city has written to PSI Parking Solutions, but Robichaudhasn't receiveda response.

The company has not returned calls from CBC News.

Robichaudsaid the city has receivedat least a dozen calls regarding booting and towing.

"First we heard that there was a company who was towing vehicles off of private property, and charging fees that were in excess of twice or perhaps three times of what a normal tow truck would charge," he said.

"And then we heard stories that people were, once they were being towed, their vehicle had a boot on it in the location that it had been towed to."

Most recently, the city has received reports of vehicles booted where they were parked.

Robichaudsaid the city has two options to issue fines of around $2,100 to companies that illegally boot, or torequest the Court of Queen's Bench for a court order "to prohibit the company or individuals from continuing to boot vehicles."

The city hasn't taken any action yet. Robichaudsaid it is still gathering evidence, but he hopes to be able to bring a case before the courts within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, people who have been booted should "tell the company that you know they don't have the authority to do that and ask them to remove it," Robichaudsaid. "If at that point you still have a conflict with them, and they refuse to do that, I would suggest contacting the RCMP."

Robichaud also said to contact the bylaw enforcement service to report illegal booting.