Is my car being sold? Lien sales and auctions in San Francisco
If a tow company or storage lot keeps a car and the bill is not paid, the car can be sold after the notices and waiting periods the law sets. The notice you get tells you which rules apply and how much time you have.
General information, not legal advice. Check your notice: the dates printed on it are the ones that count. Count calendar days unless the rule says business days.
The rules, by notice
| Your notice | Deadline to object | When the car can be sold or scrapped | Can you buy it back after the sale? | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REG 668, Notice of Pending Lien Sale (car worth more than $500, up to $4,000) | 10 days from the mailing date. The Declaration of Opposition goes to the DMV. | On the date printed on the notice, which must be 31 to 41 days after it was mailed. | No buy-back period. | Civil Code section 3072(c) |
| DMV letter with a Declaration of Opposition, then REG 280 and a newspaper notice (car worth more than $4,000) | 10 days from the date the DMV mailed its letter. The Declaration of Opposition goes to the DMV. | Only after the DMV approves the sale. The yard mails a REG 280 20 days before the sale and runs a newspaper notice 5 to 20 days before it. | Yes, within 10 days after the sale, by paying the sale price, the costs of the sale and 12% yearly interest. | Civil Code section 3071(c), (f), (k) |
| REG 684 (car worth $500 or less) | 10 days from the mailing date. The Declaration of Opposition goes to the tow yard or lienholder named on the notice, not the DMV. | No auction. The car can go to a dismantler no earlier than 15 days after the notice was mailed, unless an objection is filed in time. | No. | Vehicle Code section 22851.8; Vehicle Code section 22851.10 |
- Paying the bill before the sale is the way to get the car back. An objection can stop the sale, but storage keeps adding up. For a car worth $4,000 or less, objecting raises the storage limit from 60 to 120 days. (Civil Code section 3068.1)
- State law limits the lien-sale fee to $70 for a car worth $4,000 or less and $100 for a car worth more, and no lien fee may be charged if the car is picked up within 72 hours. (Civil Code section 3074)
- If the car sold for more than the bill, the extra can be claimed from the DMV within three years. A sale that does not follow these rules is void. (Civil Code section 3073; DMV lien sales page)
- SFMTA's own lien fees are $35 (car worth $4,000 or less) or $50 (worth more), charged when a lien sale starts and again when it is completed. (SFMTA Fees and Fines effective July 1, 2026)
- For an SFMTA tow of a car worth $500 or less that has not been picked up, the tow hearing must be requested within 10 days of the tow instead of 30. (SFMTA tow hearing request page)
Where sales happen
| Tow yard or lot | Sale day | Times | Address and phone | List of cars and notes | Sources | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City and County of San Francisco tow program (operated by TEGSCO, LLC for SFMTA) Service area City and County of San Francisco (SFMTA and SFPD tows) | Not published | Times not published. Call the lot. | Customer service and short-term storage: 450 7th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Long-term storage and auction facility: 2650 Bayshore Blvd., Daly City. 415-865-8200 | No official auction calendar found. TEGSCO's site links San Francisco auctions to the Autura Marketplace (an account is needed to see details). Sources disagree: SFMTA's 2016 records describe moving cars to Bayshore if not claimed within 48 hours; current SFMTA pages say only that some oversized vehicles go straight to a secondary facility in Daly City. Call 415-865-8200 to learn where a car is. | SFMTA Towed Vehicles page; Budget and Legislative Analyst report, Feb. 7, 2025; TEGSCO site (Vehicle Auctions link) | October 7, 2026 |
Official auction pages
- Autura Marketplace auctions near San Francisco (linked from TEGSCO's site) (not an official page). A private auction site. It lists vehicles by VIN and needs an account; we do not copy its listings. Last checked: October 7, 2026
- SFMTA staff report on the Seventh Amendment (Sept. 6, 2022): lien-sale auctions and the Sixth Amendment's online-auction option. Explains that cars not claimed by their owners are disposed of through lien-sale auctions, and that the Sixth Amendment lets SFMTA use an internet auction platform as well as, or instead of, live auctions. Last checked: October 7, 2026
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