BBB Sacramento: Your rights if your car is towed in California

If you’ve ever been stranded on the side of the highway, you know that a tow truck can be a great relief, but it’s quite a different story if your vehicle has been towed for any other reason. Maybe you parked illegally in a fire lane, or someone else’s designated space in your friend’s apartment complex - just for a few minutes - and came out later to find your car already hitched to a tow truck and being driven away. What rights, if any, do you have then? As it turns out, quite a few.

Towing Companies are Required to be Licensed: In California, a tow truck driver is required to carry a Class B Commercial Driver’s License and the towing company is required to possess a current and valid DMV Motor Carrier Permit.

Authorization for the Tow: In general, you cannot be towed from a free parking lot that is open to the public, such as a mall or grocery store lot, until you have been illegally parked for at least one hour. You can, however, be towed immediately if you park in a disabled parking space without a visible disability placard in place, within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant, in a fire lane, or blocking the entrance or exit to the property. You can also be towed immediately if you park in an assigned or reserved parking space of an apartment complex or hotel.

In a Residential Complex: Under California law, a tow truck driver must obtain written authorization before towing your vehicle from private property. The person authorizing this tow must be either the property owner, an employee of the property owner, a commercial tenant or the tenant’s employee, or a tenant of an apartment complex with fewer than fifteen units and no on-site manager. A property owner may grant a towing company “general authorization” to remove vehicles from their property without having to physically sign and be present for every tow, but vehicles may only be towed under “general authorization” for parking in a fire lane, within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant, or blocking the entrance or exit to the property.

Note: The towing company must take photographs of your parking violation before towing your vehicle and make them available to local law enforcement. You are entitled to receive a copy of these photographs as well as a copy of the written authorization for the tow upon request.

Posted Notice: Private property owners must post signs at all entrances and exits to the lot clearly informing drivers that their vehicles will be towed at the vehicle owner’s expense. The signs must be at least 17 inches by 22 inches in size with one inch letters. The signs must contain the name and telephone number of all towing companies the property owner has granted “general authorization” to tow vehicles from the lot and also the telephone number for local law enforcement.

If You Catch the Tow in Action: If you are able to catch the tow truck driver after he or she has hitched your vehicle to the truck, but the truck is not yet on a public road, the tow truck driver is required to release your vehicle upon request. At that point, the tow truck driver is entitled to require that you pay at most half of his or her normal towing fee.

Where Can Your Vehicle be Towed? Your vehicle cannot be towed to a lot more than ten miles away from where it was taken. A towing company can only take your vehicle to a storage facility more than ten miles away if they have obtained written authorization from local law enforcement.

Retrieving Your Vehicle: Towing companies are required to be available to you to contact to arrange the release of your vehicle 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Additionally, if you pay all of the required fees within 24 hours of the tow, but the facility where your vehicle is stored is not open during normal business hours or fails to release your vehicle to you, you may not be charged for more than one day’s storage fee. If your vehicle is released after normal business hours, the storage facility may not charge you a “gate fee” of more than half of the initial tow charge. Finally, a towing company cannot require that you pay in cash. California law requires that they be able to take all major credit card payments and, if you pay cash, must have sufficient cash on hand to make change.

Illegal Tow: If you believe you were wrongfully towed, you may contact your local law enforcement office and/or file a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau.

What to Do if Your Car Gets Towed In California