Towed and Impounded, Fees Exceed Vehicle's Value

[stuckinburlingame]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: California

My van was on the street for over 72 hours and was towed by the burlingame police.

The tow company wants far in excess of it's value for release. I offered to turn over title to the van but they want money.

The tow company states that they will let the charges get up to $3000.00 and then turn it over to collections.

Why can't they just sell it now with the title instead of holding it hostage racking up fees.

Do I have any recourse?

[cdwjava]

They should be able to accept your turning over title to them and then when they sell it, you might only owe the difference between what it receives at auction, and the total amount of the impound and storage up to 30 days.

Yes, you will owe them about $3,000 but if it goes at auction for that much, then you should be clear.

[chefcolby]

you really don't have any option other then paying to get it out or waiting for it to go to auction and paying the remainder.

every towing company is different but usually follow the same guidelines in their policy, which usually states that a vehicle that is not payed for within thirty days will be turned over to auction, the owner of the vehicle will be responsible for the remainder that the auction couldn't get for the vehicle. depending on the storage fee which can vary but if im not mistaken its 150 a day with a 200 intro fee or something then the actual price they can charge you is 4500 dollars but like i said most companies have different rates and different standing periods (holding time) and you can get that info at the company.

you have no option of legal rights because you broke the law or violated a set of rules by parking where you did and the consequences for that is to have the car towed by owners expense which goes into the standing time and auction fees, remember depending on the auction and the towing company there is a fee to have it auctioned because they do have to check the car by a mechanic and have to clean it so min 100 probably more.

now if the auction house doesn't make enough to cover the charge then you are liable for the remainder, they have your license and will put a hold on you (your license or plate) so that in order to get new plates you will need to pay that fee off, so don't think its done and you can slip away from the charge, now that your car is auctioned you are really dealing with the state and hard to sue the state for something that was the fault of the plaintiff.