Los Angeles, December 16, 2024 – The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), along with pro bono partner Davis Wright Tremaine, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) for unlawfully refusing to provide transparency about its towing practices, even as the Los Angeles City Council has continued to enact RV bans around the City and demanded that LADOT dramatically increase its use of towing to enforce these bans. 

Every year, the City tows upwards of 100,000 vehicles. Since 2019, LAFLA and coalition partners from the statewide Back on the Road Coalition have repeatedly sought LADOT data under the California Public Records Act to analyze the economic impact of these tows on Los Angeles households. In June 2024, LADOT reported that LAFLA’s latest request had been referred to the City Attorney’s Office; since then, the City Attorney has failed to produce the records or provide any further response, as required by state law. 

“Los Angeles residents need and deserve a clear understanding of the impacts of our City’s policies and whether they disproportionately harm communities already burdened by over-policing, predatory debt collection, and criminalization,” said Shayla Myers, senior attorney in LAFLA’s Unhoused People’s Justice Project. “The City cannot continue to keep the public in the dark about its approach to problems affecting all Angelenos, especially when doing so violates state law.” 

In 2019, the Back on the Road Coalition released a report, Towed Into Debt, which relied on similar data from cities around the state to show how their practices result in severe debt, loss of transportation, and even homelessness, while frequently actually costing cities money. These practices also disproportionately impact communities of color. But because Los Angeles has refused to release comparable data, the City has prevented public scrutiny into whether LA’s practices similarly harm low-income residents and the City’s bottom line. 

In September 2024, the Los Angeles City Council ordered LADOT to increase tows for minor parking infractions, which LAFLA contends is a violation of existing municipal ordinances, state law, and the U.S. Constitution. Publicly available data showed that in the month prior, the same order would have resulted in 66,000 additional tows for violations as minor as overnight parking or overstaying a posted time restriction. 

The petition seeks an order compelling the City to produce documents and data and a declaration that the City has violated the California Public Records Act. A copy of the petition is available here.   

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About Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles is a nonprofit law firm that protects and advances the rights of the most underserved—leveling the playing field and ensuring that everyone can have access to the justice system. Every year, LAFLA provides free, high-quality legal services to more than 100,000 people living in poverty across Greater Los Angeles. Our unique combination of neighborhood offices, self-help centers at courthouses, and domestic violence clinics puts LAFLA on the front lines in vulnerable communities, and at the forefront of change.

About Davis Wright Tremaine

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 firm with more than 600 lawyers around the country. The firm has been widely recognized in recent years as a pro bono innovator, advancing new ideas, deploying best-in-class technology, and recruiting client partners around the country to expand access to justice. DWT has a long record of successfully supporting pro bono clients in public records litigation at the local, state, and federal level. Learn more at dwt.com.