California Vehicle Code 22658: Rights, Fees, and Damages

California Vehicle Code 22658 governs how a vehicle can be towed from private property, and it gives vehicle owners unusually strong remedies when a tow company or property owner cuts corners. Depending on which rule was broken, you can recover two, three, or four times the towing and storage charges, and several violations are misdemeanors on top of the civil damages. The rules cover signage at the lot, written authorization before the hook-up, your right to reclaim the car at the scene, deadlines for notifying police, fee limits, and how your personal belongings must be handled.

Signs the Lot Must Post

A private-property tow is only lawful if the lot has proper signs at every entrance. Each sign must be at least 17 by 22 inches with lettering at least one inch tall. The sign has to state that public parking is prohibited, that vehicles will be towed at the owner’s expense, and give the phone number of the local traffic law enforcement agency. It must also list the name and phone number of each towing company under written contract with the property owner.¹

If any required element is missing, or signs aren’t visible at every entrance, the property owner is liable for double the towing and storage charges. This is one of the most commonly violated requirements and often the easiest to document after the fact with a photograph.¹

Written Authorization Before the Hook

Before a tow truck can touch your car, the tow company must have written authorization from the property owner, lessee, or their agent, and that person must be physically present to verify the parking violation at the time the vehicle is removed. The written authorization has to include:

The vehicle’s make, model, VIN, and license plate
The authorizer’s name, signature, job title, address, and working phone number
The specific grounds for removal
When the vehicle was first observed and when the tow was authorized

There’s a narrow exception for small residential rental properties with 15 or fewer units that have no on-site owner or manager. A tenant who sees a violation in their assigned space can request the tow directly through a signed request or email, a copy of which must reach the tow company within 48 hours.¹

A tow company that skips written authorization, or starts removing a vehicle before the authorizer verifies the violation, is committing a misdemeanor.

Getting Your Car Back Before It Leaves the Lot

If you reach your car while it’s being hooked up and it hasn’t left the property, the tow company must release it immediately and unconditionally. No payment is required at that moment, and refusal is a misdemeanor.²

Timing controls everything here. Legal possession of the vehicle transfers only when the car has been removed from the private property and is in transit. Before that, release must be unconditional. After the vehicle is hooked up but still on the property, the company can charge a drop fee of up to half the regular towing rate. Once the vehicle leaves the lot, you owe the full charge.¹

Some operators rush to pull the car off the property specifically to avoid the drop-fee scenario and collect the full rate. If a driver refuses to unhook your car while still on the lot, document it. That refusal is both a crime and the basis for a civil damages claim.

Deadlines for Notifying Police

Two separate notification duties apply, on different clocks.

The person who authorized the tow must notify the local traffic law enforcement agency by phone within one hour of giving authorization. If a phone call isn’t practical, they must use the fastest alternative available.¹

The tow company has a stricter obligation once it begins transit. If notification runs more than 30 minutes late, the company owes you three times the towing and storage charges. If it runs more than 60 minutes late, or more than 15 minutes after arriving at storage (whichever comes first), the company has committed a misdemeanor.²

The company can raise impracticability as a defense, but it carries the burden of proof. Notification records are often the first thing to check when you suspect an unlawful tow: a late report is its own damages claim even when the rest of the tow was clean.

Fees, Payment, and Your Belongings

California doesn’t set a statewide dollar cap on daily storage. The standard is reasonableness: storage fees must be comparable to what nearby businesses charge for similar services. When a tow company both tows and stores the vehicle, its combined charges can’t exceed what it would charge for similar services performed at the request of a public agency like the CHP or local police.³

You have the right to pay towing and storage fees by cash, insurer’s check, or valid bank credit card. A company that accepts only cash, or demands a specific method outside those options, is violating the law. Before paying, you’re entitled to a clear, itemized invoice.

You can retrieve personal belongings from the towed vehicle at no charge during normal business hours, even if you can’t yet pay the towing and storage fees. The company cannot hold your personal property to force payment for the car itself.

Within 48 hours of storing a vehicle (not counting weekends and holidays), the agency or entity that directed the storage must identify the registered and legal owners through DMV records and send written notice by first-class mail describing the vehicle, the storage location, and the authority for the removal.⁴

Damages and Penalties When the Rules Are Broken

The remedies under 22658 stack. A single bad tow can trigger more than one damages provision.

Double Damages

If signs are missing or deficient, or the written authorization fails to state the grounds for removal, the property owner is liable for double the towing and storage charges.¹

Triple Damages

If the tow company doesn’t notify local law enforcement within 30 minutes of removing the vehicle, it owes three times the towing and storage charges.²

Quadruple Damages

A tow company or storage facility that charges excessive towing, service, or storage fees is liable for four times the amount charged. Knowingly charging excessive rates is also a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500, up to three months in county jail, or both.²

Criminal Exposure

Several violations of 22658 are misdemeanors, including refusing to release a vehicle at the scene, failing to obtain written authorization, and missing the 60-minute notification window.

How to Challenge an Unlawful Tow

Start with evidence while it’s fresh. Photograph the lot’s signs or the absence of them, noting dimensions and whether the required phone numbers appear. Ask the tow company for a copy of the written authorization and confirm it includes every mandatory detail: authorizer identity, the specific violation, and the timestamps.

Request the law enforcement notification records. Tow companies must keep the original written authorization, any photographs of the violation, and tenant requests (where applicable) for at least three years, and must produce them within 24 hours of a request from law enforcement, the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney. You can also seek records through a public records request to the agency that received the notification. A late or missing report is a triple-damages claim on its own.²

Compare the storage fee to rates charged by nearby facilities. If the daily rate is dramatically higher, you have an argument for excessive charges and the four-times-damages penalty. Keep every receipt and document each interaction with the company.

For most individual claims, small claims court is the practical path. You can sue the property owner, tow company, and storage facility together for up to $12,500 without hiring a lawyer. With the statutory multipliers, even a routine tow that cost a few hundred dollars can produce a meaningful judgment.¹

Don’t Wait Too Long to Act

Storage fees accumulate every day the vehicle sits in the lot. If you don’t retrieve the car, the tow company can eventually sell it to recover unpaid fees. For vehicles valued over $4,000, the company must apply to the DMV for authorization before a lien sale; the DMV then notifies the registered and legal owners, who have 10 days to file a Declaration of Opposition. For vehicles valued at $500 or less, the process is shorter, though written notice to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) is still required.⁵

Even when the tow was technically lawful, waiting can cost you more in storage fees than the vehicle is worth. And if the tow was unlawful, acting promptly preserves your evidence and keeps the damages math in your favor.

Added Protection for Active-Duty Military

Active-duty servicemembers get an additional layer of protection under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A tow company cannot sell or auction a servicemember’s vehicle to satisfy a storage lien without first obtaining a court order. The protection lasts for the entire period of military service and 90 days after, and the definition of lien is broad enough to cover storage, repair, and cleaning liens.⁶

1
California Legislative Information. California Code 22658
2
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 22658
3
Bureau of Automotive Repair. Automotive Repair Dealers and Storage Fees
4
California Department of State Hospitals. Policy Manual Policy 502 Vehicle Towing and Release
5
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Disposition of Abandoned Low Value Vehicles (VC 22851.3)
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens