No one likes having their car towed against their will, but the State of Texas guarantees vehicle owners several rights when this unfortunate event does occur.
These rights are outlined by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). If you return to your car and it is in the process of being hooked up to a tow truck but has not been fully loaded, you can keep your car without paying a fee, according to the TDLR.
If, by the time you return to the car, it has been fully hooked up to the tow truck, but the truck has not left the parking lot, you can keep your car but you have to pay a drop fee. The maximum drop fee in Texas for a car weighing less than 10,000 pounds is $135.
You do not need to provide proof of ownership in either one of these cases.
If your car is towed, you are entitled to a copy of the tow ticket that includes information about fees and contact information for the towing company. If your vehicle is taken to an impound or Vehicle Storage Facility (VSF), you must provide photo identification and proof of ownership, in addition to paying towing and storage fees, in order to recover the car.
The maximum charge for a private property tow in Texas is $272 for a vehicle weighing less than 10,000 pounds. A government-owned VSF charges a storage fee of $20 per day, according to the Texas Occupations Code.
You do have the right to access your car to retrieve any ownership documents or other personal property without paying a fee, according to the TDLR.
However, the TDLR clarifies that vehicle owners do not have the right to remove or dismantle any part of the car while it is impounded. Owners also do not have the right to retrieve their car from the VSF without paying the appropriate fees or proving they are the owner of the vehicle.
More information about towing fees and vehicle owner rights according to the TDLR can be found here. The Dallas Express reached out to the City of Dallas for more information about towing practices specific to the City but received no response by press time.
