Santa Fe, NM Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Section 12-12-18(F) defines an 'abandoned vehicle' on a public street, alley, or public way two ways: it has no current license plate, or it has sat unattended in the same spot for 72 hours without a valid police sticker. Once either condition is met, any police officer or authorized traffic or parking employee may order the vehicle impounded under the section's broader towing framework, which requires written notice to the registered owner within 24 hours of a summary tow and gives the owner 30 days to request a legality hearing before the municipal judge.

Subsection F(2) offers vehicle owners a narrow escape valve: the police chief can issue a temporary street-storage sticker for an operable, currently-licensed vehicle, but that sticker expires after 15 days and no owner, individual or business, may hold more than four stickers at once, closing off indefinite long-term street storage. A companion section, 12-12-19, 'Abandoned Vehicles on Private Property,' lets a person in possession of an abandoned vehicle on their own land sell, retain, or dispose of it through a licensed dismantler once law enforcement clears the vehicle as not stolen, provided the vehicle is wrecked beyond repair, at least eight years old, or has sat unclaimed in a storage yard for 30 days after being abandoned there at a law enforcement officer's or property owner's request. 00-per-day storage fee once impounded, separate from any other parking penalty the vehicle accrued.