Newsclipping summary:

FEAR-List Bulletin posted by Leon Felkins, 3/5/98

The San Jose Mercury News reports on March 4, 1998 that the city of Sunnyvale has been effectively forfeiting vehicles by impounding and making it difficult for the owners to retrieve them. "The combination of the city wrongfully holding the cars longer than it should and selling them without proper notice results in the forfeiture of vehicles of people with limited financial resources,'' said George Brown, of a law firm that filed a class action against this practice.

A minor infraction, such as improper lane changing, can result in the auto being impounded. The cost of getting the auto back can be more than the auto is worth for older cars and some owners simply don't have the funds to pay for their release.

The article further states:

"Earlier this week, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge William Martin ordered the city to change its auto-impound policies or return to court April 28 to show why it has not done so. City officials won't comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, and Sunnyvale is preparing its response, spokesman David Vossbrink said. In the meantime, he said, the city's towing policies will not change."

It would be interesting to know how common this practise is across the land.