Towing Issues: car tow public lot & fee, sylmar ca, california dmv

Question
I had my car parked at the Sylmar/San Fernando MetroLink Station for 5-6
weeks in the parking lot there, awaiting my return from a last minute job
opportunity. It got towed and now Jons Towing of Sun Valley(they towed it
and stored it) are charging me $519.50.  I have to purchase with a credit card
IN MY NAME or CASH up front, or they won't even let me near my vehicle(is
this extortion).  Is there any way I can fight this?  The towing took place in
Sylmar, CA--and the company stored it at their facility at Sun Valley, CA.

Answer
Well from what I see here, you left the vehicle for 5 to 6 weeks in the park and ride lot... In most cases the becomes an "abandoned vehicle" and a few different rules and regulations come into play under California towing laws...

Plus add in the fact it might of been towed under authorization of either the local police department or the transit authority, and it gets a bit more complicated...

Now the tow company asking for cash or a credit card in your name is good practice, in most parts as the credit card from someone else can easily be disputed (credit theft is the common key here as the person did not own the vehicle)

California laws regarding towing of vehicles has about 400 different rules and regulations and as such I can not list each and everyone which is specific to your case as I do not know all the specific answers to questions... I will provide a link to the California DMV website and you can search there for answers which apply in your case here....

Remember the key words will be abandoned and also value of vehicle when reading the sections there...

Also the authorization agency - person will also have something to do with what laws apply...

I hope this helps, but I know I did not provide much specific information.  California gets a bit complicated when dealing with towing as you will see when reading the laws off the DMV pages...

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm