Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: financial responsibility of a lending institution after a veihcle lien sale

After doing a fair amount of research on Westlaw, I think the answer depends upon the wording of the specific Vehicle Code section authorizing the impoundment in the first place.

Typically, it seems as though the legal owner is not liable for towing and storage charges, on the theory that it is not entitled to possession of the vehicle. An exception seems to arise when the vehicle was subject to a repossession action at the time of the impoundment, since the legal owner under such circumstances presumably has the right of possession and therefore can be liable to third parties.

Please note that this is a kind of offhand opinion and I haven't located nor do not know the full answer as to all situations.