A car that has not moved on a City of Los Angeles street can be cited and towed after 72 hours. That is street storage, not a parking boot, and not a private-lot tow. The 72-hour rule is LAMC 80.73.2 read with the California Vehicle Code. A complaint alone does not hook the car. A traffic officer has to observe it.
What the 72-hour rule actually is
Inside the City of Los Angeles, a vehicle may not stand on a city street or alley for 72 or more consecutive hours. That is LAMC 80.73.2, read with the California Vehicle Code. A Traffic Officer must inspect the car and observe it over that period before impound. CVC 22651 lists 72-plus hours among the times a peace officer may remove a vehicle. CVC 22669 authorizes an immediate tow of an inoperable public-hazard vehicle. That hazard tow does not wait on the three-day watch.
This is not the PayLock boot clock. A boot is five or more delinquent citations, a $150 fee, and a separate 72-hour window before that booted car is towed. We keep that on booted car in Los Angeles.
This is not a private driveway. An ex’s car on your pad is usually private property towing under CVC 22658, not LAMC 80.73.2.
Our abandoned vehicle laws page is the wider county map. This page is the City street clock: how long a car can sit, who watches it, and what happens when the tow comes.
How to report a sitter, and what that does not do
On a City of LA street, report stored and abandoned vehicles through the Parking Violations Bureau process, or dial 311. Have the location, the plate or VIN if you can see one, and a short description. A Traffic Officer still has to observe a 72-hour sitter. They can move faster when the car is a public hazard.
A report is not a bid for your neighbor’s title. The city is not handing you the car. It is not a same-day tow unless the car is already a hazard.
In unincorporated Los Angeles County, contact the local LA County Sheriff’s station. On a freeway or other CHP-served highway, contact the California Highway Patrol. Long Beach, Burbank, and Pasadena each run their own programs. City of LA Official Police Garage rates do not apply outside the City of Los Angeles.
If the car is in your assigned stall or blocking your driveway on private property, start with the property process, not 311. CVC 22651 also lists blocking a driveway among the times a peace officer may remove a vehicle, which is a different trigger than the three-day street-storage watch.
To report a truly abandoned wreck you want gone as junk you own, that is a different path: report an abandoned vehicle and junk car removal.
If you own the car that has been sitting
Move it. The statute does not publish a magic number of feet. Nudging it forward a few feet on the same block is a weak plan if an officer has already marked it. A different block is the safer read.
If it will not start, treat it as inoperable. An inoperable car on a City street can be a hazard tow under CVC 22669 without the three-day wait. Call for a licensed operator and get it off the curb. Emergency towing is that hire. You contract with the operator we connect you with. We do not run a City lot.
If the car is already gone, search opglaviic.com by plate or VIN. There are 17 Official Police Garages. Release is in person, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You generally get the police release from the impounding LAPD Area station, then pay the garage.
As of January 1, 2026, the OPG standard-vehicle tow is $220.00 for the first hour at the credit-card rate. Daily storage is $68.00 a day on a credit card, $66.00 otherwise. The Vehicle Release Fee is $115.00. Those figures reset every January 1. Confirm the current lines with the garage before you pay. Full math: cost to get a car out of impound.
What we could not confirm
A City-published “minimum distance you must move” in feet is not in our claims file. Weekend and holiday counting for the 72-hour observation is a local enforcement practice we could not confirm as a single published rule. Re-check with 311 or the Parking Violations Bureau, not a number we will invent.
A fine dollar amount for the storage citation itself varies and is not a single figure in CLAIMS.md. Do not treat OPG tow rates as the citation. Glendale’s release-fee dollar amount is not verified. LASD’s release-admin fee is not verified.
If you need a licensed operator to move a car you still control before the officer’s clock runs out, call dispatch. If the City already has it, start with the garage, not with us.
When to call us
Call when the car is yours and it has to leave a City curb before it becomes a storage tow, or when you are hiring junk removal for a car you own. Call (213) 410-1414 to reach dispatch.