Got to the car before the tow truck left
23 of 50 states make the tow operator release your car for a drop fee if you get there before it is towed away.
If you reach your car while it is being hooked up, many states require the tow operator to release it on the spot for a drop fee, which is much lower than the full tow. The rules depend on how far along the tow is.
What to do now
- Stay calm and tell the operator you want the car released.
- Ask what the drop fee is and pay it if it is within your state limit. Some states require them to take a card.
- Get a receipt with the company name, truck number and amount.
- If they refuse when your state requires release, call police non-emergency and note the time.
Drop fee release: all 50 states and DC
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Alabama No | State law has no rule requiring a tow truck to release your car for a drop fee. Check the city where the car was towed. |
| Alaska No | State law has no drop-fee rule. In Anchorage, a private-lot tow truck still on scene must release the car for the curb release fee if you can move it right away. |
| Arizona No | State law has no drop-fee rule for private-property tows. Cities and counties that set tow rates can add one, so check the local ordinance. |
| Arkansas No | Neither the state towing law nor the Board rules require a tow company to release your car for a reduced fee if you return before it is towed away. A city ordinance may say more, so check where the car was towed. |
| California Yes | If you get back to your car before it has left the property, the tow company has to release it on the spot, and refusing is a misdemeanor. If the car was already hooked up or lifted, they can charge up to half their regular towing charge. Then you need to move the car right away. |
| Colorado Partly | For tows from commercial lots, if you show up before the car leaves the property the driver must stop and let you pay the drop charge instead. Tows from residential property cannot charge a drop fee at all. Cap: $97.70 |
| Connecticut Yes | If your car is hooked up but not yet off the property, it must be released when you pay the drop fee, capped at $50 for a car. If you get there before it is hooked up and move the car, no fee may be charged. Cap: $50 |
| Delaware Yes | If you return before the car leaves the lot and ask, the tow must stop. The drop fee can be no more than half the tow fee, which means at most $125 for a personal car, and there is no fee if the car was not yet attached to the truck. |
| District of Columbia Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Florida Yes | If you reach the tow truck before it leaves the property, the driver must stop and return the car for a fee of no more than half the posted tow rate. You get a signed receipt. |
| Georgia Yes | If you return before the car is hooked up or loaded and produce the key, the tower can't tow it and can't charge anything. If it's already hooked up but still on the property, the tower has to let it go for an operator fee of no more than $130, or $195 for vehicles 20,000 lb or more, with no storage or other fees. Once the truck leaves the property, normal tariff charges apply. Cap: $130 |
| Hawaii Yes | If you arrive while your car is being hooked up, up to the moment the tow truck drives away, the tow company must release it at a safe spot with no fee. |
| Idaho Partly | For police-ordered tows the tower must release the car at the scene if the owner asks. If the car is not yet hooked up, the tower may charge only one-way mileage and the operator's usual fee, and if it is hooked up it may charge the regular tow fee. We have not found a rule for private-lot tows. |
| Illinois Yes | In ICC counties a tower may not take a car if the owner shows up before it leaves the lot with the key and drives it away right away. Elsewhere the tower must unhook the car for a fee of no more than half its posted tow rate and give a receipt. |
| Indiana Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Iowa No | State law has no rule requiring a tow truck to release your car for a drop fee. |
| Kansas No | State law has no rule requiring a tow truck to release your car for a drop fee. Some cities cap an on-site release fee, such as 90 dollars in Salina. |
| Kentucky Yes | If you arrive while your car is being towed from a private tow-away zone, the tower must tell you that you can pay up to half its normal release fee, and must then release the car and give you a receipt. |
| Louisiana Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Maine Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Maryland Yes | If you reach your car before it leaves the parking lot and it can be driven, the tower must release it to you, even if it is already lifted, for a drop fee of no more than half the cost of a full tow. |
| Massachusetts Yes | If you get back to your car before the tow from private property is finished, the tower may charge you no more than half its usual towing fee. |
| Michigan Yes | If you get to the car before it is towed away, the tow truck must unhook it and let you drive off after you pay a reasonable service fee and get a receipt. This does not apply to police tows for a hazardous vehicle, suspected theft, evidence, or a crash. |
| Minnesota No | Chapter 168B has no drop-fee rule, so state law does not require a tow company to release the car for a reduced fee if you return before it is towed away. |
| Mississippi Partly | For commercial vehicles of 15,000 pounds or more, a tow company may not charge a drop fee to unhook the vehicle after it is hooked up but before it leaves private property. This commercial vehicle law is set to expire July 1, 2029. We have not found a drop rule for regular passenger cars. |
| Missouri Yes | For a private-property tow, if you return before the car is removed from the property the tow company may charge no more than half of its regular towing charge. The full tow charge applies only once the car has left the property and is in transit. |
| Montana No | Montana has no statewide drop fee rule. The state tow truck law covers Highway Patrol rotation tows and does not require release before the car is towed away. |
| Nebraska Partly | If you ask before your car is fully attached to the tow truck, the tower must unhook it. The law does not say whether a fee can be charged for this. |
| Nevada Yes | If your car is hooked up but still at the scene, the tow company must release it when you ask, for the release fee in its tariff. The fee is waived for an apartment-complex tow over missing registration if you show the car was registered. |
| New Hampshire No | New Hampshire law does not address drop fees or releasing a car before it is towed away. |
| New Jersey Yes | If you return while your car is hooked or lifted but not yet moved off the property, the tow company must release it. It may charge only a decoupling fee, and no other fees, unless police ordered the tow for public safety. |
| New Mexico Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| New York Partly | No statewide drop fee rule was found. In New York City a tow company may charge no more than $62.50 to unhook a car before towing it from a private lot. |
| North Carolina No | North Carolina law has no rule that a tower must release a car for a drop fee before it is towed away. Charlotte once banned fees for an unfinished tow, but police stopped enforcing that after the 2014 King v. Chapel Hill ruling. |
| North Dakota Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Ohio Yes | If you arrive after the car is hooked up but before it leaves the lot, the tower must tell you that you can pay no more than half the PUCO tow fee and get the car released on the spot. |
| Oklahoma Yes | If you want your drivable car back before it leaves the private lot, the tow company must hand it over. It may charge a drop fee of up to $99.75 for cars under 10,000 lb. Cap: $99.75 |
| Oregon Yes | If you are there before the hookup is complete, the tower must release the car at no charge. If hookup is complete, it must still release the car and may charge no more than its listed hookup charge. |
| Pennsylvania No | No Pennsylvania law requires a tower to release your car for a drop fee if you return before it is towed away. Philadelphia's towing code summary has no drop-fee rule either, and it bans any charges beyond its tow and storage caps. |
| Rhode Island Yes | If the owner arrives while a trespass tow is in progress and agrees to move the car, the tow company must release it for a flat $60 once the car is secured for towing. |
| South Carolina No | South Carolina has no statewide rule requiring release for a drop fee. The private-property towing law does not address it. |
| South Dakota No | South Dakota has no statewide rule requiring a tow company to release a car for a drop fee. The state towing and abandoned vehicle laws do not address it. |
| Tennessee Yes | If the car has not left its parking spot, the tower must release it immediately when the owner pays a release fee. That fee is capped at $100 statewide. Cap: $100 |
| Texas Yes | 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. Cap: $135 |
| Utah Yes | For a private-property tow of a car or light truck, the drop fee is capped at $105.50 in 2026. Cap: $105.50 |
| Vermont No | Vermont has no state rule on drop fees. The Attorney General found that apart from a few abandoned-vehicle rules, tow operators set their own rates and practices. |
| Virginia Yes | If you are there and move your car before it is actually towed, it may not be towed. You can be charged a reasonable fee of no more than $25, unless your locality sets a different limit. Cap: $25 |
| Washington No | State law does not set a drop fee or require release at the scene. Seattle caps an uncompleted tow fee at $76.72 per 15 minutes. |
| West Virginia Yes | If the car is hooked or loaded but has not left the property, and you show the key and drive it away right then, the tow charge cannot be more than half the minimum charge in the tariff. |
| Wisconsin Not verified | Not verified yet. |
| Wyoming No | Wyoming has no statewide rule requiring a tow company to release a car for a drop fee. |
Think the tow or the bill was wrong?
Ask the lot for an itemized receipt, compare it to the legal limits, and request a hearing before the deadline. Our step-by-step guide and calculator are free.
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Questions
Do tow trucks have to release your car if you show up?
23 of the 50 states require the operator to release the car for a drop fee if you arrive before it leaves. Check your state below.