The title sums it up pretty well.

Basically, I needed to move my car out of my complex's lot temporarily. I parked it across the street on a small road lined with family houses and other parked cars (10/01/20). I checked and no other cars had permits or anything on their windshields, and there were no signs of any sort stating that parking was not allowed.

After a few days, I came back to retrieve it, only to find that it wouldn't start (10/04/20). I tried to get a friend to come help me jump it but they were busy. I figured I'd just do it the next day when they were free. Lo and behold, I go to jump it the next day and it's gone (10/05/20).

I get a notice in the mail a day later (10/06/20) stating that my car had been towed and that I would need to pay nearly $300 to get it back! No reason was given for as to why the car was towed specifically. I'm unemployed currently and on SSI and CalFresh (food stamps), and I REALLY can't afford to get my car out right now. I decided to wait a few days to try and figure out a solution to getting it out, but I got another notice in the mail (10/10/20) telling me that they have been charging me $85 every day it sits there! You'd really think they'd mention something like that in the FIRST notice!

I'm relatively young (20's), have no family to ask for assistance, and have never had my car towed before. I apologize if I'm less informed for any of those reasons. I have no criminal history and great credit, if that helps any? Haha.

I live in California - Ventura county specifically. My car is currently on PNO and has been since shortly after Covid hit. Because of that, my registration is outdated. When I called the lot where they're keeping my car to ask about my options, they said they wouldn't release the car to me at all because the registration wasn't up to date. Even if I had my insurance company, AAA, come and tow it back home from the lot (since again, it's on NPO and can't legally be driven), they still won't release it to me due to the aforementioned reason.

I know that there are some programs and different forms of aid out there for low-income people who are in sudden, difficult binds like this. I searched online, and while it seems that if you live in San Francisco you can apply to have your fees waived for non-criminal-related tows, first time tows, and tows of low-income folks, I can't seem to find anything like that anywhere else in California.

Ultimately, I'm looking for options, preferably ones where I don't have to pay the fees in full or at all. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I'm certain with the crazy rates of homelessness in this state, along with all of the recent difficulties people have faced due to Covid-19, that I can't be alone in this situation. I don't want to lose my car, which I'll definitely need once I start working again, but I also don't want to incur any unnecessary debts.

My car is a cream puff that I acquired just two years ago; a 2000 Acura Integra GS with fairly few miles on it. At best, it's likely worth only a couple thousand dollars. As of tomorrow, Monday, October 12th, 2020, I'll owe nearly $1,000 just to get the car out of the lot, and that's not including what it would cost to take it off PNO if I absolutely need to do so in order to get it back. I'm fearful that not only can I not afford this, but that it may not even be worth it at that point for what the car's actual value is... if I wait much longer than tomorrow, it almost certainly wouldn't be worth it...

So yeah, I'm in a real pinch and any advice you could give would be MONDO appreciated! 😩 Thanks all!