Re: Leased Car

It is dangerous for anyone on this web site to give you "What should I do?" advice with the limited information you've provided. If you want legal counsel from an attorney to guide your future life decisions, you need to meet with an attorney face-to-face and may need to hire that attorney.

Common sense would suggest that you talk with the police or prosecutor about how to get your car released from impound as soon as possible, or how to halt the impound fees. But, as you noted, there is a Catch-22 involved if you cannot afford the impound fee.

If your friend is prosecuted, there's an argument to be made that you are a "victim" who is entitled to restitution from the defendant to pay the cost of seizure/impoundment. Talk to your local prosecutor to see if you qualify as a direct victim of the crime to allow you to get restitution ordered from the defendant. [The argument against that is that you did not suffer a loss as a "direct" victim of the crime of prostitution; your loss is indirect, as a consequence of the car being towed/impounded. Another issue may be that you are not the car owner anyway because you are the lessee, and your damages are really the monthly lease you are now paying when you dont have a car ... and that is even less directly related to the crime itself.]

If all that fails, you may have a civil case in small claims court or the district court to get a money judgment against your friend for things like the lease money you're thoring down the toilet, the towing/impounement fees you have to pay to get your car back, etc. But you should talk to a lawyer who handles civil law to see if you have a viable civil claim here.