Car towed while in gas station parking lot

[elizdever]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
In Jan. we paid registration but the registration is incomplete because we need a smog cert. Car was parked at gas station, cops pull in and because we owed 14 dollars more on registration (which was paid online either before or at the same time as the car being towed). We didn't receive any tickets nothing. But the tow yard wants 300 dollars and the city wants 145. What can I do?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
In Jan. we paid registration but the registration is incomplete because we need a smog cert. Car was parked at gas station, cops pull in and because we owed 14 dollars more on registration (which was paid online either before or at the same time as the car being towed). We didn't receive any tickets nothing. But the tow yard wants 300 dollars and the city wants 145. What can I do?

I would suggest that you pay the $445 before your car starts incurring even more fees...

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
In Jan. we paid registration but the registration is incomplete because we need a smog cert. Car was parked at gas station, cops pull in and because we owed 14 dollars more on registration (which was paid online either before or at the same time as the car being towed). We didn't receive any tickets nothing. But the tow yard wants 300 dollars and the city wants 145. What can I do?

I would suggest that you pay the $445 before your car starts incurring even more fees...

I wholeheartedly agree. The registration was INCOMPLETE until that additional money was paid. Until that happened, you could be towed at any time, apparently because your registration was so out of date to begin with.

Now, if you had proof that the $14 outstanding balance had been paid before the car was towed, then there would be no reason to have it towed. And the fact that you say that it MIGHT have been paid at the same time as it was towed tells me that it WASN'T paid, and that you were just frantically trying to get it paid before the tow truck driver hooked up the vehicle and drove off with it.

IF the tow yard did their job, they are entitled to their money. Not sure what those city charges are for, but if they are related to the tow, then those are righteous charges as well.

Next time, pay the registration IN FULL before driving your UNREGISTERED vehicle around on the streets, and this won't happen again.

 

[Zigner]

I wholeheartedly agree. The registration was INCOMPLETE until that additional money was paid. Until that happened, you could be towed at any time, apparently because your registration was so out of date to begin with.

Now, if you had proof that the $14 outstanding balance had been paid before the car was towed, then there would be no reason to have it towed. And the fact that you say that it MIGHT have been paid at the same time as it was towed tells me that it WASN'T paid, and that you were just frantically trying to get it paid before the tow truck driver hooked up the vehicle and drove off with it.

IF the tow yard did their job, they are entitled to their money. Not sure what those city charges are for, but if they are related to the tow, then those are righteous charges as well.

Next time, pay the registration IN FULL before driving your UNREGISTERED vehicle around on the streets, and this won't happen again.

Doesn't matter if it was *paid* or not - the registration wasn't complete without the SMOG cert.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
In Jan. we paid registration but the registration is incomplete because we need a smog cert. Car was parked at gas station, cops pull in and because we owed 14 dollars more on registration (which was paid online either before or at the same time as the car being towed). We didn't receive any tickets nothing. But the tow yard wants 300 dollars and the city wants 145. What can I do?

Why was your car being driven when it was not properly registered? You know for the car to have been towed, the registration had to have been WAAAAYYY long expired.

 

[Zigner]

Why was your car being driven when it was not properly registered? You know for the car to have been towed, the registration had to have been WAAAAYYY long expired.

OP says they paid most of the registration in January. I suspect it's expired by at least 8 months...probably more.

I hope the OP's story gets spread around. It's one of my (many) pet-peeves. I hate seeing people drive around in cars that our months and months out of date on their registration.

 

[Antigone*]

OP says they paid most of the registration in January. I suspect it's expired by at least 8 months...probably more.

I hope the OP's story gets spread around. It's one of my (many) pet-peeves. I hate seeing people drive around in cars that our months and months out of date on their registration.

It is one of mine too. The thing that really scares me about it is that if they can't pay their annual registration, then it is almost 99% certain that they don't have insurance either.

I think that when a car gets towed for a situation like this one, the deliquent owner should not get it back. At least that is how it would be in Tigi's World.

 

[tranquility]

I think there is something wrong with the on-line registration system right now. I "registered" my CA vehicle last month although the computer said it was not completed because I did not have a current smog registration. There was no listing of the requirement on the registration notice sent out (It lists all the items required to register the vehicle.) AND I got the smog check last year. While I sent a letter with the smog check and the on-line notice, I only have a couple of days until the month sticker on my license plate is out-of-date and I take the risk of getting stopped. I suppose I'm going to have to go to the DMV office to fix their error. Good times.

I realize I'm not getting towed for many months, but I could certainly see a person who is a little lazy or forgetful get into a bind.

 

[Antigone*]

I think there is something wrong with the on-line registration system right now. I "registered" my CA vehicle last month although the computer said it was not completed because I did not have a current smog registration. There was no listing of the requirement on the registration notice sent out (It lists all the items required to register the vehicle.) AND I got the smog check last year. While I sent a letter with the smog check and the on-line notice, I only have a couple of days until the month sticker on my license plate is out-of-date and I take the risk of getting stopped. I suppose I'm going to have to go to the DMV office to fix their error. Good times.

I realize I'm not getting towed for many months, but I could certainly see a person who is a little lazy or forgetful get into a bind.

Tranq, the other day I saw a lady driving a car with a tag from 2008. People like that and the OP whose registration is at least 8 months late are what I'm talking about. In fact, this OP cannot tell me that the $14 bucks they needed let to pay since January, they didn't have. that is the cost of 3 lattes from Starbucks that they should have refrained from purchasing.

I hate to say it tranq but the FA crystal ball tells me that it sees a trip to the dratted DMV in your future.

 

[tranquility]

I agree, close interaction with the bureaucracy of California is in my future. I'm sure the quality of service has greatly improved since the last time I had to show myself there.

But, what frosts me is not so much those who don't register in a timely manner, but those who actively cheat by using out-of-state registration--for years. There's an Arizona registered car that has been driven in our neighborhood since I arrived 8 years ago. At some point, I'm thinking they should bite the bullet and change over. While I can't believe the registration fees are that much less in AZ, I suspect it is the OTHER requirements (Like smog check or other limitations.) that causes them to cheat.

 

[Zigner]

Auto Club is great for DMV transactions...the time saved in one trip more than pays for the year's membership, IMO.

There is an online form to report folks who don't register their out-of-state vehicles properly: http://www.chp.ca.gov/prog/cheaters.cgi

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
In Jan. we paid registration but the registration is incomplete because we need a smog cert. Car was parked at gas station, cops pull in and because we owed 14 dollars more on registration (which was paid online either before or at the same time as the car being towed). We didn't receive any tickets nothing. But the tow yard wants 300 dollars and the city wants 145. What can I do?

Long story short, the registration was expired more than 6 months and the vehicle was towed for lack of current registration, correct?

The $300 tow is typical for a tow and first day storage ... the $145 vehicle release fee the city wants is exorbitant, in my opinion, and maybe even unlawful as the law allows for compensation, not extortion. Unfortunately, such high release fees are common among police agencies and to this point have gone unchallenged.

 

[elizdever]

But registration was paid in full!

I wholeheartedly agree. The registration was INCOMPLETE until that additional money was paid. Until that happened, you could be towed at any time, apparently because your registration was so out of date to begin with.

Now, if you had proof that the $14 outstanding balance had been paid before the car was towed, then there would be no reason to have it towed. And the fact that you say that it MIGHT have been paid at the same time as it was towed tells me that it WASN'T paid, and that you were just frantically trying to get it paid before the tow truck driver hooked up the vehicle and drove off with it.

IF the tow yard did their job, they are entitled to their money. Not sure what those city charges are for, but if they are related to the tow, then those are righteous charges as well.

Next time, pay the registration IN FULL before driving your UNREGISTERED vehicle around on the streets, and this won't happen again.

The reason I said might have been paid is that I was at home my husband was the one dealing with this police officer. He walked home told me about the tow and I showed him the online payment information. He was not even given a ticket! Nothing. So what was the vehicle towed for? No ticket, no charges.. The vehicle is registered just in my husbands name. More than 2 years ago he got a DUI because of being in the drivers seat in a parking lot with keys in car. We got charged outrageously by our insurance company so I began to look for another. For about 2 months, since we had no insurance, the vehicle remained parked in driveway. Two weeks ago got insurance again on vehicle but the DMV because of no SR-22 suspended our registration. Paid the 14 dollars that day before my husband even walked home. He is a licensed driver and so am I. Even talked to a lady at DMV who had told us 4 months before this that we would only get a $50 ticket if pulled over. If the car was towed because of the registration being suspended than where is our traffic ticket? Isn't there a saying that says, "Charge me or release me?" The same should go for our car.

 

[CdwJava]

The reason I said might have been paid is that I was at home my husband was the one dealing with this police officer. He walked home told me about the tow and I showed him the online payment information. He was not even given a ticket! Nothing. So what was the vehicle towed for? No ticket, no charges.

He's lucky he doesn't have the added hassle of the citation. What it appears to have been towed for was for VC 22651(o) - unregistered for more than 6 months. Understand that the registration was not complete when the fees were paid, if smog was due, the registration was complete when SMOG was also submitted.

If the car was towed because of the registration being suspended than where is our traffic ticket? Isn't there a saying that says, "Charge me or release me?" The same should go for our car.

They do not have to issue a citation to impound the car. In fact, if they had found the car unoccupied on the road, they could have towed it, too. The tow was an administrative matter, it has not been arrested, it has been removed from the public roadway.

Each day that the vehicle remains in impound will cost about $60 more (more or less depending on where you live). After 30 days it will be subject to sale.

So, your husband might want to consider going to the DMV, getting a temporary registration (after fees are paid, if any remain to be paid) and insurance, and getting the car out of impound. If there is no way to afford to get the car released even for a few hundred dollars, and your husband owns the car outright, he might want to consider signing it over to the tow company in lieu of any fees that might be owed - on other words, he can ask to give it to them and walk away from it.

The options are not pretty, but there you are.

 

[Zigner]

Two weeks ago got insurance again on vehicle but the DMV because of no SR-22 suspended our registration. Paid the 14 dollars that day before my husband even walked home.

BINGO, there it is!

The registration was not simply "expired", it was SUSPENDED.

Registrations suspension take a minimum of 72 hours to clear from the system. If you paid it that day, it wouldn't have been cleared out for a minimum of 3 business days.