If your car got towed from an LA apartment lot, a shopping center, or a job site, and something about it felt off, it might not have been legal. California Vehicle Code 22658 tells property owners exactly what they have to do before they authorize a tow. Skip a step and you’re owed your money back.

This is written for the driver whose car is gone, not the property manager trying to stay compliant. If you manage a property and want to do this right, read our sign requirements guide instead.

What makes a private property tow illegal under CVC 22658

Four things have to line up before a lot, an HOA, or a landlord can legally send your car to the corralón. Miss one and the tow doesn’t hold up.

The signage wasn’t there or wasn’t right

Every entrance to the property needs a posted sign, at least 17 by 22 inches, in letters an inch tall or bigger, naming the towing company and its phone number and warning that unauthorized vehicles get towed at the owner’s expense. A lot of Los Angeles apartment buildings and strip malls run on a sign that’s faded, blocked by a dumpster, or only posted at one of three driveways. If you drove in through an entrance with no sign, or the sign named a different tow company than the one that actually hooked your car, that’s a real dispute.

Nobody notified the police within an hour

CVC 22658 requires the property to notify local law enforcement within one hour of authorizing the tow. In the City of LA that’s LAPD; outside city limits it’s the Sheriff’s station for that area, or the local PD in Burbank, Pasadena, Long Beach, and the other incorporated cities. This step exists so your car doesn’t get logged as stolen while it’s actually sitting in a fenced lot. If no notification was made, the tow itself is a violation, and you can confirm it by calling the non-emergency line for the jurisdiction and asking if a tow was logged for your plate.

The charge was more than the law allows

CVC 22658 doesn’t set one flat statewide price cap. It says a tow company can’t charge more than the greater of the local government’s contract rate or the operator’s own CHP-approved rate for that kind of tow. If the invoice at the gate looks padded past what a normal LA tow runs, ask the yard what their CHP-approved rate is and whether the number on your receipt matches it.

You came back before the truck left, and they wouldn’t cut the price

This is the rule most LA drivers have never heard of. If you show up while your car is still on the property, before the truck is actually moving with it hooked, the tow company has to release it to you on the spot for no more than half the posted tow charge. Not the full rate. Half. If a driver ran up to their car with the hook already on it and the operator still charged full price and drove off, that’s a straight CVC 22658 violation.

How an LA driver spots a bandit tow

Los Angeles has a name for tow operators working outside the rules: bandit tows. They tend to show up around apartment complexes in the Valley, strip malls along Pico and Vermont, and lots near Dodger Stadium and the arenas downtown on event nights, where a fast hook off a crowded lot is an easy score.

Signs you’re looking at a bandit tow, not a legitimate one:

  • No sign at the entrance you drove through, or a sign naming a company that isn’t the one who towed you
  • A driver who shows up unprompted and hooks a car with no property manager or posted authorization involved
  • Cash-only demands, or refusal to release the car when you’re standing right there before the truck pulls out
  • A yard that won’t give you a straight answer on which agency it notified, or claims it doesn’t have to notify anyone

If your car is actually missing, don’t guess. In the City of LA, search the OPGLA VIIC database at opglaviic.com by plate or VIN, or call 311. That tells you which of the 17 Official Police Garages has it, or whether it was a private tow instead of a police-ordered one.

Report it: LAPD’s OPG Section

The LAPD Commission Investigation Division, OPG Section is the body that investigates predatory tows and regulates OPG charges in the City of LA. Call (213) 996-1270. Give them the tow company’s name, the address you parked at, and the date and time. If a pattern of bandit tows is running out of one lot, this is the office that builds the case against it, not just yours.

Getting your money back

Document before you leave the yard. Photograph the receipt, the time stamp, and whatever payment they made you use. If they refused a card and demanded cash, write that down, because the yard has to accept a valid bank credit card, not cash only.

Go back and photograph the lot. Every entrance, the signage or lack of it, the spot you parked in, any markings. Date-stamp the photos. This is what makes the dispute provable instead of a story.

Call the enforcement number for that property. LAPD for the City of LA, or the local department for Burbank, Pasadena, Long Beach, and the rest of LA County’s incorporated cities, and ask whether a tow notification was logged for your vehicle. No log, no compliance.

File with LAPD’s OPG Section at (213) 996-1270 if the tow happened in the City of LA and the operator looks like it’s running a pattern, not a one-off mistake.

Small claims court is the direct path to your money if the property or the tow company won’t make it right. CVC 22658 makes the property owner jointly liable with the tow company when the tow wasn’t properly authorized, so you can name both.

Where Quick Tow LA fits

We don’t run the corralón and we can’t reverse someone else’s tow. What we do is connect you with a licensed local operator once your car is back in your hands, to get it home or to a shop anywhere in LA County. Call dispatch at (213) 410-1414 or email [email protected].

Frequently asked questions

Can I get my money back if my car was illegally towed from private property in Los Angeles?

Yes. If the tow violated CVC 22658, the property owner is jointly liable with the tow company for an unauthorized tow. You can pursue the fees through small claims court, or file with LAPD’s Commission Investigation Division, OPG Section, at (213) 996-1270.

What’s the most common reason a private property tow is illegal in LA?

Bad or missing signage. Los Angeles has a lot of older apartment buildings and strip malls running on one faded sign at one entrance, when the law requires a compliant sign at every entrance a driver could use.

Does the tow company have to notify the police?

Yes, within one hour of authorizing the tow, under CVC 22658. In the City of LA that’s LAPD. Call the non-emergency line and ask if your plate was logged. If it wasn’t, that’s a violation on its own.

I got to the lot before the truck left with my car. Why did they still charge full price?

They shouldn’t have. If your car is still on the property and not yet in transit when you show up, CVC 22658 caps the release charge at half the posted tow fee. Full price at that point is a violation worth disputing.

How do I find out which yard has my car in the City of LA?

Search opglaviic.com by plate or VIN, or call 311. That tells you which of the 17 Official Police Garages holds it, and whether it was a police tow or a private one, which changes how you dispute it.