Junk and dead cars in San Leandro: tows, liens and selling

After a tow: the lien clocks

Civil Code 3068.1 lets the towing and storage company hold the car until it is paid. What happens next depends on value:

• Valued at $4,000 or under: a San Leandro yard uses Civil Code 3072 and starts within 15 days. Its storage claim can run 60 days, stretching to 120 in certain cases.
• Above $4,000: Civil Code 3071 sets the process.

For a San Leandro car, 3072 starts the clock with the mailing of a "Notice of Pending Lien Sale." The yard then holds the sale on some day from day 31 to day 41 after it's mailed. Want a judge to hear it? The "Declaration of Opposition" is due from San Leandro owners within 10 days. Track those dates if you mean to reclaim the car and sell it. The towed or impounded guide walks through the steps.

When the city calls it abandoned

Vehicle Code 22851.3 handles low-value cars, $500 or less, with four deadlines:

• 72 hours: how long the warning must sit on a San Leandro car before it is removed. One case is different: a San Leandro car removed under 22669(d) and valued at $300 or less.
• 48 hours: the window after the tow for telling the owner.
• 15 days: counted from that owner notice, after which disposal may happen.
• 10 days: your time to ask for a hearing.

When a San Leandro impound goes unclaimed, Vehicle Code 22523 gives the last registered owner an infraction and the bill the lien sale leaves unpaid. The exception is an owner who already reported the sale.

We did not find San Leandro's own code online, so these are state rules. Vehicle Code 22660 lets a city pass its own ordinance against wrecked or inoperative cars on private property, so San Leandro may have extra rules.

Why the 5-day release matters so much here

REG 138, DMV's release-of-liability form, has a 5-day deadline from the sale date. The San Leandro filing can go online at dmv.ca.gov/nrl or as a printed form by mail. After DMV logs it, Vehicle Code 5602 hands later tickets and civil claims to the new owner. This counts twice here. Say a San Leandro buyer dumps the car. After you file the report of sale for your San Leandro car, you're clear of the infraction and any lien-sale balance left unpaid.

Title and plates

In San Leandro the seller signs the California title, plus any listed lender. The San Leandro buyer takes it to DMV with the $15 transfer fee. DMV does not ask for a notary at that step. Lost the title? REG 227 replaces it for $28. Plates of the ordinary kind normally stay put on the car, unless you junk it through DMV yourself, in which case they are surrendered. No smog test is needed for a car sold to be taken apart. See after you sell.

Around San Leandro

By straight line, Oakland sits 5.7 miles from San Leandro, Alameda 5.9 and Hayward 6.2. For the whole state, see California.

Getting an offer

Phone (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. The offer form covers your San Leandro car. After that, pickup is arranged at its current spot in San Leandro.