If someone parked in your spot, you can usually have them towed, but whether you personally can order the tow depends on who owns the property, what your lease or association rules say, and whether the lot has the right signs posted. Skip the required steps and the bill can land on you instead of the driver who took your space.
Who Actually Has Authority to Order the Tow
The right to remove a vehicle from private property belongs to the property owner, their lessee, or someone the owner has specifically authorized. About 17 states require that authorization to be in writing for each individual vehicle, not as a blanket standing order that lets a tow operator clear the lot at its own discretion.1U.S. Department of Transportation. Causes and Countermeasures of Predatory Towing
If you own the property, you hold the authority directly. You call the towing company that services the lot and authorize removal of the specific vehicle.
If you rent, the picture changes. Tenants generally need to go through the landlord or property management company rather than calling a tow truck themselves. The lease or management agreement designates who holds towing authority, and acting outside that chain can shift liability to you rather than to the driver who parked illegally. Read your lease before you do anything else.
Condominium owners sit in a third category. In many jurisdictions the HOA board or its designated property manager controls towing in common parking areas, even for assigned spaces. If a neighbor’s guest is in your spot, the fastest legitimate route is almost always through association management.
What to Do Right Now
Your first call depends on where you live.
In an apartment complex or managed community, contact the property manager or landlord immediately. They have the standing relationship with a tow company and the legal authority to act. Larger complexes often have a tow operator on retainer and can get a vehicle hooked up fairly quickly once they confirm it doesn’t belong.
If you own the property and already have a contract with a towing company, check the posted signage in your lot. It should list the company’s name and phone number. Call them, give authorization as the owner, and they handle the rest. Without that pre-existing contract and compliant signage, you may not be able to tow the car legally even though it’s your property.
For a one-off where you recognize the car as a neighbor’s or a visitor’s, a direct conversation or a note on the windshield usually fixes the problem faster than any tow. Save the tow truck for repeat offenders or situations where the driver is genuinely unknown. Towing when a conversation would have worked can turn a small annoyance into a real dispute, and sometimes a lawsuit.
If the Spot Is on a Public Street
Permit-only street parking is not private property. You cannot authorize a tow from a public road yourself. Call your city’s parking enforcement division or the non-emergency police line. An officer or parking agent decides whether to cite or tow under municipal procedures. It’s slower, but arranging a private tow from a public street can get you in legal trouble.
Signs Have to Be There, and They Have to Be Right
Proper signage is the legal foundation for any tow from private property. Without it, even an obviously unauthorized car may be untouchable. Most jurisdictions require signs at each entrance to the parking area, visible day and night. The signs typically have to show the towing company’s name, a retrieval phone number, the hours of enforcement, and a warning that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner’s expense.
Specifications vary. Some areas require signs of at least 18 by 24 inches, mounted with the bottom edge between five and eight feet off the ground. The point is making sure drivers actually see the warning before leaving the car. Signs that are too small, hidden by landscaping, or stuck in one corner of a big lot can undercut the legal basis for the tow.
Some jurisdictions also require a warning notice placed on the vehicle itself before it can be towed, giving the owner a window (sometimes 24 hours) to move. These pre-tow warnings are more common in residential settings than in commercial lots.
What the Towing Company Has to Do
Towing companies that handle nonconsensual removals from private property operate under licensing, reporting, and conduct rules. Most states require them to be licensed and bonded, which gives vehicle owners a path to compensation if something goes wrong.
Many states require the tow operator to notify local law enforcement shortly after a nonconsensual tow is complete. Thirty minutes is a common cutoff in states with strict reporting rules. The notification creates an official record and helps the driver locate the car. Six states also require tow operators to photograph vehicles before removal to document the violation.1U.S. Department of Transportation. Causes and Countermeasures of Predatory Towing
A growing number of states require towing companies to accept credit and debit cards at the impound lot, which prevents the familiar problem of a cash-only release with the storage meter running.
What It Will Cost the Driver
Many states cap what a towing company can charge for a nonconsensual tow and daily storage. Caps vary, but a typical range for a standard light-duty tow from private property runs between $100 and $175. Daily storage fees commonly land between $25 and $50. Some states set hard dollar caps; others rely on a reasonableness standard enforced through consumer protection agencies.
These caps exist because the driver can’t shop around. The tow company picks the car up, takes it to its own lot, and names the price for getting it back. If a company charges above the legal maximum, the driver can file a complaint with the state regulator and often recover the overcharge in small claims court.
When You Shouldn’t Tow — Your Own Liability
Property owners who authorize a tow without following the rules can face real financial exposure. If the signage wasn’t compliant, if authorization wasn’t properly given, or if the car was actually entitled to be there, the driver can come after you for towing fees, storage charges, and any damage to the vehicle.
In more serious cases, courts may treat an unauthorized tow as conversion, which is roughly the civil equivalent of taking someone’s property. Conversion claims can produce larger damage awards than a simple refund of fees, and if the tow was ordered knowing it lacked legal justification, punitive damages become possible. Being right about the parking violation but wrong about the process still leaves you holding the bill.
The related risk is predatory towing, where a company patrols a lot on its own hunting for excuses to hook up cars. Many jurisdictions prohibit this. The property owner or an authorized agent has to request the tow of a specific vehicle. If you’ve signed a blanket standing authorization with a tow company that then starts clearing cars on its own, you can share in the liability. Insist on approving each tow individually, even in states that don’t legally require it.
Booting Instead of Towing
Some owners and management companies use wheel boots. Booting immobilizes the car in place rather than removing it, and the driver pays a fee to have the device unlocked. A handful of states regulate booting with rules that mirror towing: signage, fee caps, contact information on the boot or a windshield notice, and advance warning in some situations.
Legally, booting carries the same risks as towing. Immobilize a car without proper signage or authorization and you face the same claims. In jurisdictions that haven’t addressed booting by statute, the rules are murkier still, which generally makes booting a riskier choice than working with a licensed tow company under established procedures.
For an ongoing problem with a specific driver who keeps ignoring the rules, document each incident with photos and dates. That record strengthens your position whether you escalate through property management, authorize a tow, or eventually pursue the matter as trespass.