Question If this question goes to Richard, you should know it is
a continuation of a previous thread wherein I questioned
the "15-minute" time restriction for removing personal
property from an impounded van in Santa Monica, California.
The van was towed for expired tags, there were no police
restrictions on it.
Not having a car meant I could only take what I could
carry on a public bus, which is a bag or two. I wanted to
rent a truck and do a mass retrieval, but the 15-minute
rule made that impossible. California Vehicle Code
22851.(b) specifies that the maximum hourly charge for
non-business hours property releases shall be one-half the
hourly tow rate, or less. With this yard, 1/2 the tow fee
was $82.50. But he still imposed the "15-minute" time
limit. That would make the hourly rate effectively $330!
*So, my first queation is: does the $82.50/15-minutes
gate fee seem to violate the code limits?
I should tell you that I lost the van, and most of its
contents. Many people had lobbied on my behalf the week
leading up to the lien sale on the 5th. The morning of the
sale the yard owner was offered $500 for just the
contents. Another friend (a city executive) went to the
auction as a buyer and tried to purchase the van. The owner
was out to prove a point, it seemed. While the other cars
and vans were going for $500-$900, he set the opening bid
for my beat-up 1984 dodge van with a peeling dusty paint
job (Standard Brands Blue house paint) and flat tire at
$1900 (the full tow and storage bill). Obviously, no one
was going to pay that amount, and it went unsold. The
following day yet another friend submitted an offer of
$1000 for the van contents, which was rejected. Rejected
because he had already sold the van to a scrap dealer, and
it had been towed out of his yard.
Cal Civil Code 3072.(i) states: "The lienholder shall
conduct the sale in a commercially reasonable manner."
*My second question is...was this sale conducted in a
commercially reasonable manner? Recouping any reasonable
portion of the storage/tow bill obviously was not a
priority; he could have accepted between $500-$1000 for the
contents and still had the vehicle to sell. Setting an
unrealisticly high price the day of the auction and
bringing in someone the following day to take the van as
scrap was meant to keep the van and my belongings beyond my
reach and to teach me some sort of 'lesson'.
I am 61 years old, with long hair and a beard, and I
lived in a van. Santa Monica has some rather high-profile
homeless population issues, with all the accompanying
community tensions. During my very first encounter with
Robbie, the yard owner, his judgmental and adversarial
demeanor was palpable. The more I and others tried to
reason with him and negotiate a relaxing of the "15-minute
rule" for removal of my property, the more he dug in his
heels. It was his rule, by god, and questioning it was
likely perceived as a disrespectful challenge to his
authority.
At this point I must apologize to the reader for having
presented far more background story than might be
reasonable to digest. But it does ultimately lend context
to the basic issue of whether the rules of the game played
out fairly, and did I really have to suffer this personal
property loss.
Third and final question. Cal. Civil Code 3071. (k)
requires the operator to hold on to the sold vehicle for an
additional 10 days after the lien sale before giving the
buyer possession of the vehicle and the paperwork. This is
called the "Redemption Period", During which time "the
legal or registered owner may redeem the vehicle upon the
payment of the amount of the sale,...... If the vehicle is
not redeemed, all lien sale documents required by the
department shall then be completed and delivered to the
buyer."
I'm not sure what to make of this code section. Although
it's too late for me, it seems I might have had a second
chance........
If the van was written up as being worth $500 or less,
would that affect any of these rules. It was certainly
worth more than that ( it was mechanically sound, but
looked like hell). By declaring it a 'junker', did he then
have the right to sell it the next day to a salvage yard
((evewn though he set the minimum bid at $1900)?
So many questions. Sorry for such a very long letter, and
thank you for your time..
-Tim Dillenbeck
Santa Monica, California
AnswerTim, I am sorry that it appears you ran into one of the "black sheep" of towers who are out there... It seems that even if he tried to be the least bit civil then it would of most likely killed him.
As to the loss of the property, well I am still not sure what could of been done or can be done now... I would say that some form of Civil action would be the best answer, and that generally would be small claims court. As to the appearances of him not totally following the laws and such, the California DMV who oversees towing operations and such would have the regulatory ability to go after his also for breaking the rules and regulations.
The high opening bid which he imposed does look bad, but he is entitled to try and recoup all the money he is owed, and if he does not get the money for the towing and storage, then he does also have the rights under the same laws to send the amount owed to a collection agency, and we can just about assume that given his "prior stance" that he will do that.
Seems that he does not want to get correct appraisals or that he just has someone doing it who does not know the current values of vehicles. As far as I know, they should not or are not allowed to appraise the vehicle using the "condition and contents" of the vehicle.
As to the "redemption period" issue, since I am not in California I have not seen or run across this issue, and I do know that several states have laws where the contents are not sold with the vehicle (Washington comes to mind first)
Again sorry to hear the news about you losing everything, but hopefully there will be some thing which can be done or a door will open up for you.
