San Francisco to End Most Towing Fees for Victims of Car Theft

Victims of car theft in San Francisco have complained for years about the sky-high fees the city charges to get their cars back.

Those who have suffered the indignity of having their rides ripped off have faced a series of expensive hassles if police happen to find their cars. Typically, officers will order the vehicle towed from wherever its found if the owner fails to arrive at the scene within 20 minutes. That tow costs the owner a $225.25 fee for the city's contractor to haul the car to an impound lot near the Hall of Justice at Seventh and Bryant streets.

If owners don't pick up their stolen-and-now-towed vehicles within four hours, then they start racking up storage fees. That's $68.25 a day.

It's been even worse for nonresidents who have the misfortune to have cars recovered and towed in San Francisco. The city hits them with an extra $269 in fees.

All that is changing Tuesday.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which sets the towing and storage fees, has decreed an end to most tow fees on stolen cars. Nonresidents will still face a $133 administrative fee to pick up their stolen cars.

The SFMTA is also extending the grace period for owners to pick up their cars from the city impound lot. San Francisco residents will get 48 hours to retrieve their cars before storage fees kick in; nonresidents will get 24 hours.

The only caveat: A police report must be filed with and verified by the Police Department in order to get towing fees waived.

Robert Lyles, an SFMTA spokesman, said the agency took into account public complaints and reconsidered the fees in November during its review of a new contract with AutoReturn, the company that manages tows in San Francisco.

One of those who was unhappy with the fees was San Francisco resident Ian Monroe, a climate and energy lecturer at Stanford.

He paid more than $800 in towing and storage fees after his battered Honda Civic was stolen twice in the city. Monroe was featured on a KQED Bay Curious story -- Why is Towing So Expensive in San Francisco? -- that explored the reasons the city charges more for towing than New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose and Oakland -- and most other big towns.

“This is fantastic news," Monroe said of the SFMTA's new fee schedule. "I'm really glad that drivers in San Francisco won't have to go through what I went through. But I do wish that change was made 10 years ago."

Below: San Francisco's new fee schedules for stolen cars that are found and towed: