California 72-Hour Parking Rule: Fines, Hearings, and Vehicle Release

Under California’s 72-hour parking rule, a vehicle left on a public street for 72 or more consecutive hours can be ticketed and towed in any city or county that has adopted a local ordinance authorizing removal. The authority comes from California Vehicle Code Section 22651(k), and nearly every California jurisdiction has passed the matching ordinance, so the rule applies almost everywhere in the state.¹ How aggressively it gets enforced depends on the city.

What the Rule Actually Requires

CVC 22651(k) is not a flat statewide ban on leaving a car parked for three days. The statute authorizes removal of a vehicle “parked or left standing upon a highway for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance authorizing removal.”¹ Two things have to be true before enforcement kicks in: your city or county must have the ordinance on the books, and your vehicle must have sat in the same spot for at least 72 straight hours.

Because enforcement is delegated locally, your experience varies by city. Some agencies only act on a neighbor’s complaint. Others send parking officers out on regular patrols. A residential parking permit or disabled placard does not exempt you.² Those permits let you park in a restricted zone; they do not let you park indefinitely. Whether holidays and weekends pause the 72-hour clock is also a local call, so check your city’s parking enforcement page before relying on a long weekend to buy extra time.

How Far You Have to Move the Car

Rolling the car a few feet forward does not restart the clock. State law does not set a minimum distance, so your local municipal code controls. Lomita requires a move of at least 100 feet, roughly six car lengths, or to the opposite side of the street.³ Other cities require at least one-tenth of a mile, or 528 feet. If a vehicle will sit unused for days, the safest place is a driveway, garage, or private lot.

How Enforcement Officers Prove the Car Sat

The traditional method is chalking the tire and the curb, then returning after 72 hours to see whether the marks still line up. A 2019 Sixth Circuit decision found warrantless tire chalking unconstitutional, but that ruling only binds federal courts in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. California sits in the Ninth Circuit, where no equivalent decision applies, so chalking remains common here.

Many departments now use timestamped photos with GPS data, or handheld devices that log tire valve positions and license plates. These produce a cleaner evidence trail that is harder to challenge.

A pre-tow warning on your windshield is a departmental courtesy in some cities, not a state-law requirement. In San Francisco, vehicles past 72 hours “may be issued a warning, cited and/or towed.”² Do not count on getting one.

What a Violation Costs

A 72-hour violation can bring a parking citation, a tow, or both. The citation itself typically runs somewhere between about $35 and $90 depending on the city. The real expense starts when the tow truck arrives.

Towing fee. California does not cap tow charges at a single statewide dollar figure. The Highway Patrol requires rates to be “reasonable” compared to similar services nearby, and local CHP offices approve the rates contracted companies can charge. The base tow commonly runs from roughly $150 to $350 or more depending on the city and the size of the vehicle.⁴
Daily storage. Storage is charged per calendar day, or any part of a day, after the first 24 hours. Rates are set locally and commonly run between $40 and $75 per day.⁴
Lien sale preparation. If you leave the car on the lot, the tow company can start lien sale paperwork. That fee is capped at $70 for vehicles worth $4,000 or less and $100 for vehicles worth more. No lien preparation fee may be charged if you reclaim the vehicle within 72 hours of the start of storage.⁵

Left unclaimed long enough, the vehicle will be sold at a lien sale to recover the charges.

Your Right to a Post-Storage Hearing

This is the step most owners don’t know about, and it is the main way to fight the tow itself. Under CVC 22852, when a public agency orders your vehicle stored, that agency must mail or personally deliver notice to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.⁶

The notice must list where the vehicle is stored, describe it, state the authority for the removal, and explain how to request a hearing. You have 10 days from the date on the notice to make that request, in person, by phone, or in writing. Once requested, the hearing must be held within 48 hours, again excluding weekends and holidays. The agency has to show reasonable grounds existed for the storage. If the hearing officer finds the tow was not justified, the agency pays the towing and storage charges, not you.⁶ That outcome is uncommon for a clean three-day violation, but it happens when enforcement was sloppy, the timing evidence is weak, or the officer misidentified the vehicle.

Fighting the Parking Ticket Itself

The citation is separate from the tow, and California gives you a three-step administrative process under CVC 40215 and 40230 for contesting it:

Initial review. Request within 21 calendar days of the citation date, or 14 calendar days from the first delinquent notice. A reviewer decides whether to uphold or dismiss. Paying the citation without requesting review inside that window waives your right to contest.
Administrative hearing. If the initial review goes against you, you have 21 calendar days from the mailing of that decision to request a hearing. You generally have to pay the fine first, though a pre-payment waiver is available if you meet low-income criteria.
Superior Court appeal. If the hearing officer upholds the citation, you have 30 days to appeal. A filing fee applies, and the court can impose the original penalty if it rules against you.

The steps are sequential. Superior Court will not hear your case unless you have completed the initial review and administrative hearing.⁷ Missing a deadline at any stage ends the process.

Getting the Car Back

Start by finding out where it was taken. Call the non-emergency number for the police or sheriff’s department with jurisdiction over the block where you parked. Have your plate or VIN, plus make and model, ready. Some cities, including San Diego, offer an online lookup through services like AutoReturn.⁸

At the lot, bring:

A valid government-issued photo ID.
Proof of current registration, or a one-day moving permit from the DMV if your registration has lapsed.
Current proof of insurance.

Some cities add a step before the yard releases the vehicle. In San Bernardino, you must first visit the police department’s traffic unit, pay a separate city vehicle release fee, and bring the release authorization to the tow company.⁹ Ask the department that ordered the tow whether your city requires this.

What You Can Pay With

Under CVC 22658(k), every storage facility holding a vehicle towed under this chapter must accept both a valid bank credit card and cash, and must post a visible notice in its office saying so. A facility that refuses your credit card or fails to post the notice commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $2,500, up to three months in county jail, or both. It is also civilly liable to you for four times the towing and storage charges.¹⁰ The lot must also keep enough cash on hand during business hours to make change, and it cannot charge a release fee just for handing over your car during business hours. After-hours releases are capped at half the hourly tow rate.⁴ Any separate city-imposed release fee has its own rules.

If You Can’t Afford to Pay

Many California cities run indigent payment plans for parking citations. Eligibility is typically income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or receipt of public benefits such as Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, SNAP, SSI, or unemployment compensation. Approved applicants commonly get late fees and penalty assessments waived and can spread payments over as much as 24 months. Contact the parking citation processing office for the city that issued your ticket.

For towing and storage, the post-storage hearing is your main avenue. If the hearing officer finds the tow unjustified, you owe nothing. Even when the tow was valid, speed matters: every day on the lot adds storage, and lien preparation fees start shortly after. Picking the car up within the first 72 hours of storage avoids the lien preparation charge entirely.⁵

1
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 22651
2
SFMTA. San Francisco Parking Tips: The 72-Hour Rule
3
City of Lomita. Lomita Defines Distance Parked Vehicles Must Move Every Three Days
4
California Highway Patrol. Tow Service Agreement 2025-2026
5
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 22851.12
6
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 22852
7
LADOT. Contest a Parking Citation
8
City of San Diego Official Website. Vehicle Impounds and Towing
9
San Bernardino. Vehicle Release Procedures
10
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 22658