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How towed cars are sold in Colorado
A towed car is not sold right away. Colorado law sets a series of notices and waiting periods first, and the steps differ for private-property tows and police tows of abandoned cars.
General information, not legal advice. The papers you got from the police, the tow company, the storage lot or a state agency control your dates. Agencies change phone numbers and steps, so check the agency's own page too.
1. Private-property tows
Within 10 days the tow company must send the owner and any lender a certified letter (it may charge up to $75 for this). After it gets the state's records, it sends a sale notice: the car may be sold unless claimed within 30 calendar days of the postmark.
The company's lien attaches 30 days after that postmark. The sale must happen 30 to 60 days after the postmark, at a commercially reasonable price, to a licensed dealer, wholesaler or wholesale auction, or through a Colorado newspaper ad, after an independent appraisal.
- A car appraised at $350 or less can be sold only for scrap or parts.
- If the sale brings less than the charges, the company may claim the difference, unless it broke the towing law.
- Extra money goes to the lender, then the owner; after 120 days it goes to the State's unclaimed property fund.
Sources: C.R.S. 42-4-2103 to 42-4-2108 (C.R.S. 2024, title 42)
2. Police tows of abandoned cars
The police agency reports the tow to the state within 10 working days and then mails a notice that the car may be sold unless claimed within 30 calendar days of the postmark. The notice must explain how to ask for a hearing on whether the tow was legal; the written request is due within 10 days of the postmark. The sale happens 30 to 60 days after the notice was mailed.
Sources: C.R.S. 42-4-1804 and 42-4-1805 (C.R.S. 2024, title 42)
3. Denver City impounds
Denver follows its own code for cars at the City lot: a certified notice, a 10-day hearing request, a 30-day claim period, and a published auction notice at least 10 days before the sale. See the Denver impound guide for details.
Sources: D.R.M.C. ch. 54, art. XV, div. 2 (Municode); Legal Ads (Denver General Services)
Check the notices you received
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