How tow yard lien sales work in California

How long a yard can keep charging storage

For a car worth $4,000 or less, the yard must start the lien-sale paperwork within 15 days, or storage stops adding up after that. Its storage lien is then capped at 60 days, or 120 days in some cases, such as when you file an objection. For cars towed by a public agency, the yard's lien lasts up to 60 days, or 120 days if it applies for a lien sale within 30 days.

Sources: Civil Code section 3068.1 (subsection b); Vehicle Code section 22851 (subsection a)

The notices, by the car's value

• Worth more than $500, up to $4,000: you get a REG 668 "Notice of Pending Lien Sale." The sale date on it must be 31 to 41 days after it was mailed.
• Worth more than $4,000: the DMV first mails you a letter. The sale can happen only after the DMV approves it; then the yard mails a REG 280 20 days before the sale and runs a newspaper notice 5 to 20 days before it. LA police tow yards must run that notice at least 10 days before (OPG Regulation #16).
• Worth $500 or less: you get a REG 684. There is no auction; the car can go to a dismantler 15 days after the notice was mailed, unless you object in time.

Sources: Civil Code section 3071; Civil Code section 3072; Vehicle Code section 22851.10; TOPS manual (OPG Regulations)

Your 10-day deadline to object

Each notice comes with a Declaration of Opposition. You have 10 days from the mailing date to send it in. For REG 668 and the DMV letter, it goes to the DMV. For REG 684, it goes to the tow yard or lienholder named on the notice, not the DMV. An objection can stop the sale unless the yard goes to court, but storage keeps adding up, and for a car worth $4,000 or less it raises the storage limit from 60 to 120 days.

• Count calendar days and mail it as soon as you can. If the last day is a weekend or holiday, act earlier.

Sources: Civil Code section 3072 (subsection c); Civil Code section 3071 (subsection c); Vehicle Code section 22851.8; Check your dates with our calculator

Fees the yard can add

State law limits the lien-sale fee to $70 for a car worth $4,000 or less and $100 for a car worth more, and no lien fee can be charged if the car is picked up within 72 hours.

Sources: Civil Code section 3074

After the sale

• Buying it back: only for a car worth more than $4,000, within 10 days after the sale, by paying the sale price, the costs of the sale and 12% yearly interest.
• Leftover money: if the car sold for more than the bill, you can claim the extra from the DMV within three years. In 2026 a bill to change this (SB 1029) was vetoed, so this rule stays.
• A sale that does not follow these rules is void.

Sources: Civil Code section 3071 (subsections k and l); Civil Code section 3073; SB 1029 bill history

Auctions at LA police tow yards

Since September 1, 2026, every LAPD-permitted tow company must send LAPD a list of cars it plans to sell or scrap at least 7 days before the sale (Board Rule #14), and police tow yard auctions must be open to the public at a fixed, announced place, date and time, with no ID, deposit or fee required to attend (OPG Regulation #10). See each yard's auction day and address.

Sources: TOPS manual (Board of Police Commissioners); Auction days and addresses for the 18 LA police tow yards; DMV lien sales page

More guides

• Your car was towed in Los Angeles: what to do in the first 24 hours
• Police tow or private tow? How to tell, and why it matters in Los Angeles