The California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) is holding a regulatory workshop on proposed storage and towing fees for automotive repair dealers, including collision repairers, 2-4 p.m. Oct. 17.
The workshop is open to the public and will be held in-person at the Department of Consumer Affairs, Evergreen Hearing Room, 2005 Evergreen St.,
Sacramento, CA 95815.
It will also be available via teleconference (password: BAR1017) and webcast.
This is BAR's third public workshop to discuss the proposed regulations on storage and towing fees charged by automotive repair dealers, which would bring together and clarify existing statutes governing storage and towing fees as authorized by AB 1263.
BAR held previous public workshops in April and July.
Jack Molodanof, a business law attorney and lobbyist on automotive and body shop issues, told Autobody News in an interview, “This is kind of a big deal for California shops.”
The proposed new regulations would require shops to set a storage rate and maintain it unchanged for one year; get guidance on setting towing and storage rates; provide access to stored vehicles; not charge storage fees while cars are repaired; present an itemized list of storage fees charged; and require vehicles be stored at the shop’s place of business or meet guidelines when storing it somewhere else.
The process doesn’t require new legislation. BAR is authorized to set new regulations after review and public comment.
During the July workshop, Molodanof said that requiring shops to maintain the same rate for a year would be “unreasonable” because of varying factors throughout the year -- labor, rent, insurance -- that could affect this.
Gary Hernandez, who owns Martinez Auto Body in Martinez, CA, said during the same workshop he had to buy residentially zoned land to store vehicles for “excess work or a [project] waiting for parts” to arrive. “The economics of my business are so, so much different,” than a storage facility, he said.
Hernandez said the proposed new regulations would steadily bring average rates down, meaning shops would have to regularly lower their fees. It would also influence what insurance companies will be willing to pay for storage.
