"I came downstairs and the car was gone. I thought that I must have parked it elsewhere and forgot but as I circled the blocks, it hit me – the marshal towed my car,” said Anderson (nt his real name). “It was my fault really, I should have paid those tickets but I was so overwhelmed with the pregnancy and the baby planning that it just slipped my head.”

"My priority was my wife and the baby. Not the bus stop ticket I got while picking out the crib.”

Anderson – who has had his car towed six times in the past 10 years – had three unpaid parking tickets, all of which were issued during the course of three months while he was shopping for his upcoming baby on some of the busiest Brooklyn streets.

"Have you ever tried to find parking on Kings Highway? Avenue U? Downtown Brooklyn? I searched for parking for about 45 minutes in order to run into a store for two minutes,” he said. “Eventually, I would just leave my car on the hydrant, near a bus stop, or in a “no standing” zone, all to run into the store and take what was already paid for by my wife.”

While Anderson says that he was deserving of the tow because he should have paid the parking tickets, he does point out two problems with New York City’s vehicle towing system.

"First, how can you possibly find a legal, legitimate parking spot in a crowded city that’s filled with 8 million people,” he asks. “And second, the execution fees to get your car back cost more than the tickets themselves!”

Ken Kelly, the Director of New York City Marshal Association, says that approximately 100,000 cars are towed by marshals annually. He also says that all the fees that are collected when a car is towed are “statutory, and are determined by state law.”

But Alisa Kravchenkova, a Sheepshead Bay local, isn’t so sure.

She’s had her car towed twice in 2009 for unpaid parking tickets, by two different marshals, and says that each time she paid a different amount of execution fees – first, about $185, and then over $350.

"Each time I picked up my car the same day it was towed. Each time it was towed because of about $300 [worth] of unpaid tickets,” she said. “I don’t know why such a difference in prices and when I asked, they said it was standard charges. They told me that if I don’t want to pay it, they will auction off my car. I had no choice.”

It appears that Kravchenkova is not the only one puzzled by the dilemma of unexplained execution fees.

"I’ve always believed [execution fees] to be kind of standard procedure and so I never questioned them,” said George Friloux, who’s had his vehicle towed earlier this year for just $250 worth of unpaid parking tickets. “But it definitely seems as though there’s plenty of room for the marshals to pocket some change.”

But according to the New York City Department of Investigation, the towing fees that are collected by marshals are legislatively established and abided by.

City marshals are permitted to collect a “Poundage Fee” as part of their income – 5 percent charge of any “judgment money” that the marshal collects court order enforcement.

Other charges usually include a “Mileage Fee,” which is currently $25 and applies when a marshal “must travel within the City of New York to perform an official act.” Although New York City marshals usually operate in certain areas that have been assigned by the Department of Finance, the have jurisdiction in all five boroughs, says Kelly.

Towing, storage, and impound fees can also be enforced when applicable; however such fees may vary depending on the prices of the companies that are selected at the discretion of the marshal. Some believe that marshals’ subcontracts are poorly monitored and therefore, leave plenty of potential for corruption within the system.

"I think that when you allow any City officials to spread business to other companies, there’s always a possibility of schemes.” says Anderson. “To what degree this occurs, I don’t know. But who’s to say that marshals can’t secretly subcontract a family member who owns a towing or storage company and split profits? Who’s to say they can’t charge an extra dollar from each towed car and put it in [their] pockets?”

But Kelly says that cases of corruption among marshals are practically non-existent and that despite the thousands of vehicles that are towed annually, he can’t even recall the last time any unlawful action was conducted by New York City marshals.

He does say, however, that if a case was to arise, “it would be investigated and if there’s criminality involved, the marshal would be arrested and prosecuted,” – a procedure that’s heavily doubted by some New Yorkers.

"I think that if there’s any corruption going on among the marshals, officials would just choose to turn the blind eye,” said George Friloux. “It’s a business – not just for marshals, but for everyone in between.”

The New York City Department of Investigation reports that marshals are independent public officers, and don’t receive salaries from the City, instead they earn incomes in the form of a percentage of the fees they collect in connection with court orders. They are appointed by the mayor for a five year term, after undergoing screening and background checks, and only upon receiving a positive recommendation from the Mayor’s Committee on City Marshals.

Because marshals are not considered City employees, they are cover their own operating expenses, such as rent, utilities, transportation, technology, staff, and even badges. They are prohibited from partaking in other business or employment during their term and “their personal incomes depend upon their own productivity in attracting clients, performing work, and collecting fees.”

While NYPD tow-truck operators have a shocking four-car quota per shift, Kelly says that marshals do not have a daily quota of cars that they must tow, but instead they seize vehicles according to court orders.

After taking all expenses into account, some may wonder how marshals manage to keep their head above water given the small percentage of the fees they keep for themselves.

"If you add up their expenses and the small percentages that they’re supposed to collect off of each car seized, it doesn’t seem to equal to much,” said Alisa Kravchenkova. “That makes me question why anybody would even take the job.”

"We may never find out for sure just how much of the fees each New York City marshal keeps, but the important thing is that we are the ones who pay their salaries,” said Anderson. “As a result, our wallets get thinner – not theirs.’