Plain-language guides for people who were just towed, and the audits, reports and court rulings behind them. Each summary is ours; follow the link to read the original.
Ten works we recommend reading first, newest first. Government reports are public records; the others belong to their authors, so we link to them and do not post copies.
The analyses of AB 2437, signed September 30, 2026. Starting January 1, 2027, tow and storage yards must accept a valid bank debit card as well as cash or a credit card. The law also changes the fee notice that yards must post and limits the extra papers a yard can demand from a car's legal owner, such as a lender.
Why it matters: Explains the debit-card rule that starts January 1, 2027.
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After the Fitzpatrick lawsuit, LADOT stopped towing and booting legally parked cars for five or more unpaid tickets in February 2022. Since then, the list of such cars grew from about 27,000 owing about $40 million to more than 70,000 owing about $128.5 million. The memo looks at other ways to collect, such as registration holds and tax-refund intercepts.
Why it matters: Explains why LA does not tow legally parked cars just for unpaid tickets right now.
The memo calls a July 2023 California appeals ruling "Fitzpatrick." That ruling is actually Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco (see Key court cases below).
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The committee and floor analyses of AB 987, signed October 6, 2025 and in effect since January 1, 2026. The law adds charges presumed unreasonable: after-hours surcharges above 10%, holiday storage above the normal daily rate, tows that only clear a road for emergency vehicles, storage for days a yard refused a paid release, and more than half a day of storage if you pick up your car within 4 hours.
Why it matters: This is current state law on extra tow charges.
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A law-journal note arguing that police tows and their fees are "fines" under the Eighth Amendment, now that the Supreme Court's 2019 Timbs decision applies that clause to states and cities. It argues that whether a fine is excessive should depend partly on what the owner can pay, and it surveys courts that have begun to find impounds excessive.
Why it matters: A legal argument, not a ruling, about where the law on tow fees may be heading.
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Names three kinds of tows that hit people hardest: registration more than six months expired, 72-hour parking, and five or more unpaid tickets. These are the most likely to end in a lien sale where the owner, the City and the tow company all lose money. It finds the program runs at a loss, puts the lowest cost to an owner at about $282, and calls for public reporting on what happens to towed cars.
Why it matters: A model for the questions a city should answer about its tows.
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Reports about 42,350 tows a year in San Francisco, at roughly $600 to get a car back, with about 10% of cars left at the tow lot. It recommends tow and boot relief for low-income and unhoused people, payment plans and community service. It led San Francisco to lower tow fees based on income.
Why it matters: Shows what fee relief for low-income drivers can look like.
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Estimates nearly one million tows by public agencies in California in 2016. More than a quarter were for unpaid tickets, expired registration or 72-hour parking, and those cars were much more likely to be sold at a lien sale. For Los Angeles it reports about 100,000 City tows a year, and storage charges about 4.9 times nearby parking rates. It also reports that LAPD would not release tow data because the tow yards, not the City, hold it.
Why it matters: The starting point for understanding how tow fees can grow into the loss of a car.
Its "32% stayed a week" figure comes from the County grand jury study of 12 other cities, not from City of Los Angeles data.
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A study of 12 county cities, such as Baldwin Park, El Monte, Glendale and Inglewood, and their 18 tow contractors. Many cities could not say how many cars they impounded or how many were sold. Of the cars released, 57% left within 3 days, but 32% stayed a week or more. The grand jury's own chapters trace how 30-day impounds and checkpoints became a source of revenue for some cities in 2007-2011.
Why it matters: Shows what a city can and cannot tell the public about its own tows.
This study covers 12 other cities in the County. It does not cover the City of Los Angeles.
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Covers all 59 kinds of police permits, including the permits for tow companies and tow truck drivers. The Police Commission's own investigators rated tow permits high-risk for overcharging and theft, yet complaints were kept in a form that could not be analyzed, and permits could not be looked up online. The audit recommends a public online permit lookup.
Why it matters: Explains how the City oversees private tow companies, and where that oversight falls short.
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The only full City audit of the police tow yard (Official Police Garage) program we have found. It found service met contract standards, but 15 of 20 yards left lien fees out of the receipts they reported, shorting the City about $1 million in fees, and no one checked the money the yards paid in. It also gives the 2007 rates and a short official history of the move to contracts.
Why it matters: The best official history of how LA's police tow yards came to be run by contract.
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Court rulings that shaped how towing works in Los Angeles and California. A case decides the dispute in front of the court; whether it applies to your tow depends on the facts.
See also: the history of towing in Los Angeles and public records.
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