The Los Angeles City Council instructed departments to take immediate steps to implement a new state law allowing the removal and dismantling of abandoned recreational vehicles with an estimated value of $4,000 or less.
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In a 13-2 vote, the council approved a motion introduced by members Traci Park, Heather Hutt and John Lee, who called for the city to prepare for AB 630. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez voted against it.
Departments such as transportation, police, and the City Attorney's Office are expected to report in 30 days with an overview of an implementation plan that will detail operational procedures for identifying, valuing and processing abandoned RVs consistent with the new $4,000 threshold.
Assemblyman Mark Gonzalez, D-Los Angeles, introduced AB 630 in partnership with LA Mayor Karen Bass in the spring. Existing law provided that owners of an impounded vehicle must be notified and given 10 days to reclaim their property. After 15 days, unclaimed vehicles valued between $501 and $4,000 -- most RVs -- were typically auctioned through lien sales.
Due to a backlog of more than 60,000 vehicles at the Department of Motor Vehicles, lien sales could take 30-150 days. This led to issues with storage capacity and limited local governments' ability to remove additional vehicles deemed unsafe. Additionally, many RVs were sold for $50 to predatory buyers, or so-called "vanlords," who placed the vehicles back on the streets for rent.
With AB 630, Gonzalez aimed to expedite the removal and responsible disposal of impounded RVs. The law updates the threshold from $500 to $4,000 or less to be dismantled without lien sales.
"By keeping vehicles off the auction block and creating a streamlined process for their journey to the scrapyard, AB 630 is one more tool to stop the RV-to-streets pipeline," according to the motion introduced by Park, Lee and Hutt. "It also complements existing city efforts to crack down on `van-lords,' who can use this existing loophole in state law to acquire RVs at auction."
While Councilwoman Nithya Raman, chair of the council's Housing and Homeless Committee, supported the motion, she also requested a report on the implementation of the law to her committee to ensure that the work is aligned with other policies and programs addressing RVs.
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