Texas towing laws

If you get back before your car is fully hooked up, the tower must let it go for free. If it is fully hooked up but still on the lot, you can pay a drop fee of up to $135 for a car and keep it. The driver must tell you that you can pay the drop fee and must take cash, credit, or debit.312

Once you show you own the car or have the right to it, the lot must let you take your personal belongings out, with no fee. You can also get into the glove box or console for papers that prove who you are or that you own the car.281112

You can ask a justice of the peace court in the county the car was towed from for a hearing on whether the tow was legal and whether you were overcharged. File a written request before the 14th day after the tow, not counting weekends and legal holidays. The hearing must be held within 21 calendar days after the court gets your request. If the tower or lot never gave you the hearing-rights notice, the deadline does not apply.112

Storage lots, including city lots, must take cash, credit cards, and debit cards and must post a sign saying so. A lot cannot refuse to release your car because its card machine is not working unless there is a power outage or equipment failure that is not its fault. Tow drivers must also take cash, credit, and debit for a drop fee.231011

The storage lot must report your car to local police within 2 hours of receiving it. It must mail a certified letter to the owner and lienholder no sooner than 24 hours and no later than 5 days after receiving a Texas-registered car, or 14 days for an out-of-state car. If the lot mails late, it cannot start daily storage until 24 hours after it sends the letter, and it can charge no more than 5 days of storage before the letter goes out.1267

Daily storage is capped and counted by calendar day, with no more than one day charged if the car is held under 12 hours. A lot that takes cars 24 hours a day must release them 24 hours a day within one hour of your request. Other lots must release within one hour from 8 a.m. to midnight Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, except national holidays.269

Bring a valid photo ID and proof you own or may use the car, and pay the allowed tow and storage fees. A lot cannot turn you away only because the address on your ID differs from the registration. It must accept your insurance card as proof.2912

A private lot may tow without other notice only if compliant signs were up at the time of the tow and for the 24 hours before. Each sign must face and be clearly visible to drivers entering, stand at the right or left of every driveway or curb cut (including alley entrances), or every 25 feet along an entrance over 35 feet wide with no defined driveways, and be permanently mounted on a pole, post, wall, or barrier on the property with its bottom edge 5 to 8 feet above the ground. Each sign must be weather-resistant and at least 18 inches wide by 24 inches tall. At the top it needs a bright red tow-truck symbol on white at least 4 inches tall. Below that, white letters at least 2 inches tall on red must say "Towing Enforced" (or "Towing and Booting Enforced" or "Booting Enforced"). The middle section, in red letters at least 1 inch tall on white, must say who may park and that all others are prohibited, the words "Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner's or Operator's Expense" (or the towed or booted version), and the days and hours of enforcement. The bottom section, in white letters at least 1 inch tall on red, must give a phone number with area code answered 24 hours a day to locate a towed car. Reserved single spaces can use a sign or curb marking in front of the space with letters at least 2 inches tall and a top no higher than 7 feet. Fire lanes must be painted red and marked "FIRE LANE--TOW AWAY ZONE" in white letters at least 3 inches tall every 50 feet unless a local rule says otherwise. Apartment lots cannot tow a resident's car only for expired plates or registration unless the lease allows it and 10 days of written notice were given. Instead of signs, an owner can tow after putting a windshield notice on the car and then mailing a certified letter giving 15 days to move it.15