San Francisco Lowers Towing Fees For Stolen Cars
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Short of the jail, which is ironically right across the street, the tow yard is the last place you want to find yourself in the city of San Francisco.
"My car was stolen on Monday. They just recovered it today," said Oscar Hernandez.
With his car stolen from Napa and dumped in San Francisco, Hernandez found himself holding quite a bill.
"It cost a little bit more than $500," Hernandez said.
Hernandez had to pay the city's administrative towing fee of $266, the contractor's towing fee of $225.25 and a couple of hours of the contractor's storage fee, which amounted to $58.50. In all, Hernandez is out nearly $550.
"It's insane," he said.
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose said, "People didn't think it was fair to pay a tow fee when their cars were stolen, because it's something they couldn't control."
The city is finally fixing this. Starting on December 1st, the administrative fee would be cut 50 percent and the other fees would be waived entirely. Hernandez's bill would have been cut to $133.
"Having your car stolen and then towed is not a fun situation, and this helps make it a little bit easier for those people who have to go through this," Rose said.
For residents of San Francisco, there will be no fee at all, if the car is picked up in the first 48 hours after it was towed.
