Arkansas Towing Laws: Notice, Fees, and Contesting a Tow

Under Arkansas towing laws, if your vehicle is towed without your consent you generally have 30 days from the date of the written notice to formally contest whether the tow was legal, and 45 days to pay the charges and reclaim the vehicle before the tow company can sell it at a public auction. The company must be licensed by the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board, must notify law enforcement within two hours of taking the vehicle, and must mail you a certified notice that spells out your right to challenge the tow. Personal items like medications, documents, child car seats, and prescription eyeglasses have to be returned to you for free, regardless of any unpaid towing bill.

When a Tow Without Your Permission Is Allowed

Arkansas permits nonconsensual towing in two situations: a law enforcement officer directs the tow, or a private property owner has an unauthorized or abandoned vehicle removed. Either way, the job has to be done by a company licensed through the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board.¹

Before towing from private property, the company has to get a written statement from the property owner or their agent. That statement must identify the property owner, confirm their control over the lot, state the reason for removal (abandoned or unauthorized), describe the vehicle by make, model, and VIN, and name the tow company and where the vehicle is going. The property owner keeps a copy, and the tow company has to hold onto its copy for three years.¹

If your vehicle is disabled on the road and about to be towed without your consent, Arkansas gives you what the law calls owner preference. You, your agent, or a competent occupant can pick a different tow company, or even a friend, to take charge of the vehicle, as long as that choice is responsible and reasonable.²

Parking Lot Signage

A private lot owner cannot have a car towed unless the lot is properly signed. The signage must list the tow company’s name, address, and phone number; the towing and storage charges that may apply; and which payment methods the tow company accepts (cash, check, credit card, or debit card). If the lot was not properly posted, that becomes a legitimate basis for contesting the tow.¹

The Notice the Tow Company Has To Send You

After taking possession of your vehicle, the tow company must notify local police or the sheriff’s office within two hours. No storage fees can accrue for the time before that call is made.¹

Then comes the written notice to you. The tow company must send it by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the registered owner and any lienholders no sooner than two business days and no later than eight business days after it took the vehicle. The notice must include:

The vehicle’s year, make, model, and VIN
The name, address, and phone number of the storage facility
Any police hold or other official hold on the vehicle, and a description of the circumstances
A statement that towing, storage, and administrative costs are accruing as a legal liability of the owner
A statement that you have the right to contest the original tow within 30 days

If law enforcement does not provide ownership information within 48 hours, the tow company has to run its own search through the Office of Motor Vehicle, the Arkansas Crime Information Center, or the motor vehicle records of whichever state the vehicle is registered in.³

The company can charge you for the actual cost of sending these notices, but the total notification fee is capped at $25.⁴

A notice that never arrives, or one that leaves out your right to contest, is a serious procedural defect. It can undermine the tow company’s lien.

Getting Your Personal Belongings Back

The moment a licensed tow company takes your vehicle, it gets a first-priority possessory lien for reasonable towing, recovery, and storage charges. That lien also attaches to any trailer still connected and the trailer’s contents, including boats or other vehicles. A first-priority lien ranks ahead of other claims, including the bank that financed your car.³

Certain personal items are carved out of the lien and must be returned to you without charge:

Personal or legal documents
Medications
Child-restraint seating
Wallets or purses and their contents
Prescription eyeglasses
Prosthetics
Cell phones
Photographs
Books

A tow company that refuses to release these items is violating the statute. You do not have to pay the towing bill first to get them.³

How To Contest the Tow Within 30 Days

If you believe the tow was not legally justified, you have 30 days from the date of the notice to formally contest it under the procedure in Arkansas Code 27-50-1207. That right applies whether the vehicle was unattended, abandoned, or impounded.³

Many people never exercise this right because they do not know it exists. The tow company is legally required to disclose it in the certified notice. Grounds worth examining include whether the lot was properly signed, whether the written statement from the property owner was obtained before the tow, whether law enforcement was notified within two hours, and whether the notice itself was sent on time and contained everything required.

Reclaiming Your Vehicle Before the 45-Day Deadline

If neither you nor any lienholder reclaims the vehicle within 45 days after the tow company posts or publishes the required notice, all rights to the vehicle and its contents are forfeited. When a police hold is in place, the deadline extends another 20 days after the hold is released.⁵

After the window closes, the tow company must sell the vehicle at a nonjudicial public cash sale. That sale must happen within 90 days after the lien is perfected or 45 days after a law enforcement hold is released, whichever is later. The company must first verify through the Arkansas Crime Information Center that the vehicle is not reported stolen.⁵

If the sale brings in more money than the total charges, the surplus is handled differently depending on who ordered the tow. For law-enforcement-directed tows, the impound lot operator holds the extra for one year; unclaimed funds then go to the operator. For private-property nonconsensual tows, the surplus goes to the county clerk and eventually falls under unclaimed property rules. If the sale brings in less than the charges, the tow company can cancel the sale and keep the vehicle, but it still has a claim against you for the shortfall.⁶

Fees and What To Do About Overcharges

Arkansas does not cap towing and storage rates at a specific dollar figure. Instead, every licensed tow company must keep a current maximum rate schedule posted where the public can see it, and must give you itemized billing that shows how the charges were calculated.⁷

If you think the charges are too high, you can file a complaint with the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board. The Board has authority to investigate overcharges on nonconsensual towing, recovery, storage, and vehicle immobilization, and can sanction companies that charge excessive or unnecessary fees.⁷ In deciding whether pricing is excessive, the Board weighs the size and number of tow vehicles needed, total time on the job, number of employees, specialized equipment, location, hazardous materials, weather, and how the bill compares to reasonable regional prices.⁴ Because there is no hard cap, this complaint process is the main lever consumers have.

Extra Protection for Active-Duty Service Members

Active-duty military personnel get an added layer of protection under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A towing or storage company cannot enforce its lien against a service member’s vehicle during active military service, or within 90 days afterward, without first getting a valid court order. The rule exists because deployed service members often cannot respond to towing notices or meet reclaim deadlines on time.⁸

1
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1101 – Nonconsensual Towing of a Vehicle, Implement, or Piece of Machinery
2
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1202 – Definitions
3
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1208 – Possessory Lien and Notice to Owners and Lienholders
4
Arkansas Secretary of State. Administrative Rules of the Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board
5
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1209 – Foreclosure of Liens
6
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1210 – Nonjudicial Public Sale
7
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 27-50-1203 – Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board
8
Department of Justice. Know Your Rights: A Guide to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act