This page is a guide, not legal advice
Towing a vehicle, charging for storage and selling a vehicle to recover what you are owed are all governed by the law of the state your yard is in, and the rules are specific and unforgiving. Before you tow anything or file a lien, speak to your local law enforcement agency and your own attorney. Nothing here is legal advice, and we are not your lawyer.
What we can do is tell you what the agreement your customer signed actually says, and point at the places where yards most often get this wrong.
The 15 days is when you may START, not when you may sell
A vehicle left in your yard more than 15 days past the booking end date, with no renewed and paid booking, is treated as abandoned under the agreement the driver signed. From that point you may begin the removal process.
That is a contract term between you and the driver. It is not a lien timeline, and it does not by itself give you the right to tow or to sell anything. Those are statutory, they run on their own clock, and they are stricter than the agreement.
For scale, in California: Civil Code §3068.1 requires lien-sale proceedings to commence within 15 days of the lien arising, and allows the storage lien to run up to 60 days where the vehicle is worth $4,000 or less, and up to 120 days above that. Your state will differ. The statute wins wherever it is stricter than the agreement — that is written into the agreement itself.
Before you tow: the signage rule that catches people out
In California, towing from private property is governed by Vehicle Code §22658, and it requires a sign at each entrance, in plain view, stating that unauthorised vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense — including the local law-enforcement phone number and the name and number of every tow company you have a written agreement with. There are size and lettering requirements.
If the signage is missing or not visible at every entrance, you can be liable for double the towing and storage charges. That is usually far more than the parking you were owed, and it is the single most common way a yard turns an unpaid stay into a loss.
Two more requirements worth knowing in California: the storage yard generally has to be within 10 miles of your property unless law enforcement has approved otherwise, and the tow operator must notify the vehicle's owner and the local police within one hour of the tow.
Check all of this against your own state and city before you act.
When you may remove a vehicle
The agreement lets you remove a vehicle only where:
1. it is still in the yard past the booking end date with no renewed, paid booking; 2. it is not the vehicle named in the booking; 3. it is parked outside its assigned area, or blocking access or an emergency route, after you have asked the customer to move it; 4. it presents a fire, leak, hazardous-materials or other serious safety risk; or 5. the information or documents the customer gave turn out to be false.
You may not remove a vehicle during a period the customer has paid for, except on grounds 2 to 5. A customer who paid for the week has the space for the week.
For a company holding a block of spaces, the same rules apply measured from the end of its term.
Notice
Give written notice before removing anything, for the period your state requires — the agreement deliberately does not name a number, because inventing one that is shorter than your state allows would make the removal unlawful. Use the contact details on the booking. We will relay a message for you, but the notice is yours to give.
Your state will also require notice to the registered owner and to any lienholder, who are often not the person who made the booking at all — especially with a trailer. That notice is part of the statutory process, not something the booking record can do for you.
Keep a record
Before and during a removal, keep dated photographs and a short written note of why. The agreement commits you to this, and to telling the customer where the vehicle has been taken when they ask.
This is the evidence that protects you if the removal is challenged later, and it is cheap to collect at the time and impossible to reconstruct afterwards.
What we will and will not do
We do not order, authorise, carry out or supervise a removal, and we do not decide who is right about one. The parking is yours, the yard is yours and the decision is yours.
What we will do, on request from you, the customer, or law enforcement, is hand over the booking record we hold: the booking number and dates, the yard, the vehicle and trailer details declared, when a gate pass or access code was issued or opened, and any arrival or departure recorded. That is a record, not a finding, and it is only as complete as what was recorded at the time — at an unstaffed yard, that may be nothing.
If a customer complains about a removal, they are directed to you and to the tow operator, and to whatever route your state provides.
Practical sequence
1. The stay ends and the vehicle is still there. Charge the daily rate and try to reach the customer — phone and email are on the booking. 2. Keep trying, and write down when you tried. Most of these resolve here. 3. At 15 days past the end date, the agreement treats it as abandoned and you may start. 4. Now speak to your local law-enforcement agency and your attorney about the lien and towing process in your state, before you move the vehicle. 5. Check your signage against the requirements, at every entrance. 6. Give the written notice your state requires, to the customer and to the registered owner and lienholder. 7. Use a licensed tow operator and a storage facility that meets the legal requirements. 8. Photograph everything, dated, and keep a note of the reason.
If you are unsure at any step, the cheap move is a phone call to your attorney. The expensive move is towing first.