Friend got car impounded w/ 30 day hold wont help pay

[lilsweetpea2]

OK my bf and I had a 2000 VW 5 speed Jetta great condition, our friend was having a hard time so let her borrow it it was only sopposed to be a few hours instead i didnt hear from her all night. She was ignoring all our calls and tests. Finally sometime that afternoon her mom called and told me. She apprently had a suspended licence and didnt know about it. Question i have is why didnt they attempt to get ahold of the owner to pick it up. Also i thought the first time u get pulled over with suspended licence they warn u and take your licence? This all happened right after my bf?babys dad went to jail and i had 2 toddlers at home. She does pretty well for herself and i was reALLy strugaling it was gonna cost $2,000 to get it out. I just didnt have that kind of money. Kelly blue book on that car in its conditioin was around 12,000. Should he have to pay me something. Or does she get to just get off scot free.

 

[mightymoose]

You won't like it, but as the owner, it was your responsibility to ensure that the person that you allowed to use your car was licensed to drive. You may have some liability, however if your friend won't pay up you can certainly try small claims and see if a judge will help you out. It sounds like there is more to it though. The 30 day impound wouldn't be allowed unless the person had previous convictions for driving suspended, or unless it was involved in a crime somehow. I am guessing your friend absolutely did know the license was suspended. You should find out exactly the reason the vehicle was impounded.
Are you certain it was an "impound" and not simply towed and stored? Do you know the break down of the $2000? Something isn't right about this... you need to gather more information.
Anyway... No, there is no obligation whatsoever to hunt down the owner of the car prior to towing it.

I suspect you will have a hard time collecting anything even if a judge orders it.

 

[CdwJava]

A total for fees of about $2,000 after a 30 day impound is about right in most jurisdictions.

A 30 day impound pursuant to CVC 22651(p) / 14602.6 can be made if the driver has NEVER been licensed, or, the driver has a suspended license with good service. In other words, the driver KNEW she was not properly licensed to drive. Had the service on a suspension not been good (as indicated by a notation of "service needed" in the DMV printout), the officer would have (or SHOULD have) seized the license and issued a notice indicating good service of the suspension. The driver would have then likely been instructed to leave the car there.

You would have been able to obtain an impound hearing within 48 hours of requesting it at the impounding agency had you requested one. Apparently you did not make such a request. But, as Mightymoose explained, you have a legal responsibility under the Vehicle Code to make a reasonable attempt to ascertain the driving status of a person you let drive you car. As such, it is unlikely you would have received your car back any sooner ... but, you never know. The hearing officer might have been a soft touch.

Also, to reiterate what Mightymoose said about contact, the police are under no legal obligation to attempt to track the owner of the vehicle down. In many cases that would be a great expense of time and resources as the DMV does not have phone numbers for registered owners, so the agency might have to send officers to the R/O's house in an attempt to find them. Such a thing could be prohibitively costly and is not a special relationship most agencies want to engage in as once they start doing that they may well have to continue doing it. Thus, it is far easier - and legal - to just impound the vehicle and send you notice by mail. It is also why you really need to make sure your registration is up to date.