Sergeant’s Towing, Inc. v. City of Portland (2001)
Citation: 173 Or App 359, 22 P3d 237 · Court: Court of Appeals of Oregon (Edmonds, P.J., Armstrong and Kistler, JJ.; opinion by Armstrong, J.) · Decided: April 4, 2001 (argued November 12, 1999) · Appeal from: Multnomah County Circuit Court (No. 9806-04626; CA A104335)
Facts
Four towing companies under contract with the City of Portland towed and stored private vehicles that police impounded under Portland City Code (PCC) 16.30.220 K (driving uninsured, while suspended or revoked, or without a valid licence). PCC 16.30.520 gave the companies a lien on towed vehicles “in accordance with ORS 87.152” and required a USD 15 fee to the police agency before release of a 16.30.220 K vehicle. The companies acquired title to some of those vehicles by foreclosing their possessory liens for towing and storage charges (or by voluntary transfer) and sought a declaration that they did not owe the city’s USD 15 release fee on vehicles they now owned. The circuit court agreed with the companies.
Holding
Reversed and remanded. The companies must pay the PCC 16.30.520 B fee to obtain the city’s release of a vehicle impounded under PCC 16.30.220 K even after they have acquired title “through foreclosure of their possessory liens for towing and storage costs or through voluntary transfers.”
Reasoning
The release provision implements ORS 809.715 and 809.720, which require impounded vehicles to be held until the person entitled to possession meets the release conditions, including an administrative fee; the companies’ contract required them to obtain a city release for any police-tow vehicle on which they accepted title or obtained a lien. The fee does not conflict with the state lien statutes (ORS 87.142 to 87.206) or federal limits on regulating towers: it is paid after foreclosure, does not interfere with enforcing the lien, and is “similar in its effect to the fee that plaintiffs must pay to the Department of Transportation to obtain a title certificate that reflects their ownership of vehicles acquired through foreclosure of their statutory lien” (ORS 803.025, 803.090, 803.092). The court also held that the mayor’s letter was not a quasi-judicial decision and that the other 30 contract towers did not have to be joined under ORS 28.110.
Practical impact
For the towers, ordinance and contracts in this case, acquiring title through lien foreclosure did not eliminate the city’s separate release conditions. The decision illustrates why release charges and ownership transfer are distinct questions. It does not verify the current Portland fee amount or establish that every present-day buyer owes the historical USD 15 fee.
Current ORS 809.720(6) expressly permits the holder of an ORS 822.205 towing business certificate to foreclose its ORS 87.152 towing/storage lien without paying the administrative fee under subsection (3)(c). Subsections (3)–(5) separately address release. This verifies the present foreclosure/payment distinction, not that the decision has been overruled or that every release fee is eliminated. 2025 ORS 809.720, full chapter retrieved 2026-10-17.
Good-law status
needs_verification. Full opinion independently retrieved 2026-10-17. Comprehensive later treatment and the current ordinance/contract provisions have not been verified.
One later opinion was read in full: Sulliger v. Lane County, No. A116433 (Or. Ct. App. Nov. 5, 2003). It cites this case’s separate mayoral-letter/quasi-judicial distinction and records review denied at 332 Or 558 (2001). That does not certify subsequent treatment of the towing-fee holding.
Applies in →
oregon, multnomah-or · Topic: towing-storage-and-mechanics-lien-sales
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify current law and subsequent treatment before relying on this decision.