Colorado Towing Bill of Rights: Fees, Notice, and PUC Complaints

Colorado’s Towing Bill of Rights, passed as House Bill 22-1314, protects vehicle owners from predatory nonconsensual tows off private property. It caps what a towing company can charge, requires written warning before most tows, lets you retrieve your car by paying as little as 15 percent of the bill or $60 (whichever is less), and bars the carrier from holding your personal belongings. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission enforces the rules and takes consumer complaints against towing carriers.¹²

When a Tow From Private Property Is Legal

In most cases, a towing company or property owner has to leave written notice on your windshield at least 24 hours before towing your vehicle from a parking space or common parking area. If you move the car within that 24-hour window, the tow cannot go forward.³

There are three situations where immediate towing is allowed without the 24-hour notice:

Your vehicle is blocking a driveway or roadway.
Your vehicle is in or blocking a designated and marked fire zone.
Your vehicle is in a parking space designated, rented, or purchased by a specific resident, and you don’t have that resident’s permission.

One rule catches a lot of drivers and towing companies off guard. A carrier in Colorado cannot tow your car just because the registration is expired. The only exception is a tow specifically ordered by a peace officer. A carrier that hooks up a car based solely on an expired tag is breaking the law.³

Signage and Photo Evidence the Carrier Must Have

A nonconsensual tow from private property is only valid when the property has proper signage. At any lot where tows can happen, there need to be signs communicating the parking rules that could get a car towed. Lots with designated resident spaces also need signs at each entryway telling drivers that specific spaces are reserved and unauthorized vehicles will be towed.¹

The towing carrier has its own signage requirements. At the storage facility, signs must list the carrier’s name, phone number, and business hours. The carrier also has to post its current PUC-approved maximum rates at its place of business and on any website, along with information about how to file a complaint with the PUC. Missing rates or missing complaint information at the lot is itself a violation worth documenting.¹

Before hooking up, the carrier is required to photograph your vehicle. PUC rules require at least four date- and time-stamped photos covering the front, rear, driver side, and passenger side, plus at least one more photograph showing the specific reason for the tow and the vehicle’s position in relation to it, including any relevant signage.⁴ Ask for copies when you pick up the car. If the carrier can’t produce them, that weakens their position in any dispute and strengthens yours.

Getting Your Car Back Without Paying the Full Bill

You do not have to pay the entire invoice to drive away. The towing carrier must release your vehicle if you pay 15 percent of the total fees or $60, whichever is less, and sign a form acknowledging that you still owe the balance.³ On a $350 bill, that’s $52.50 upfront. The carrier cannot refuse the arrangement or demand full payment first.

If you catch the driver before the car has left private residential property, there’s another protection. Carriers are prohibited from charging a drop fee for tows from residential private property. The driver cannot demand money to unhook your car on the spot.⁵

Retrieving Your Personal Property

Your belongings inside the car are treated separately from the car itself. A towing carrier has no lien on the contents of a nonconsensually towed vehicle, so they cannot hold your things to pressure you into paying the tow bill. If you ask for your property, the carrier has to let you collect it immediately, with no charge for the time it takes.¹

Don’t sit on this. You have 30 days from the date the carrier sends you notice of the tow to demand the contents back.¹ If you need medication, work equipment, a car seat, or anything else from inside the vehicle but can’t yet afford the full bill, get your belongings first.

Fee Caps and How You Can Pay

The PUC sets maximum rates for nonconsensual tows and updates them periodically. As of March 15, 2026, for a passenger vehicle of 10,000 pounds or under, the caps are:

Base tow fee: $250.91
Mileage: $3.80 per mile
Daily storage: $48.19 per 24-hour period or any portion of one

Heavier vehicles have higher caps, and mileage charges are limited based on proximity to I-25.⁶

You are entitled to an itemized bill showing every charge and the rate behind it. If the company won’t give one when you ask, that’s a violation.³ Match each line to the maximum rates posted at the storage facility. Overcharging is common, and an inflated invoice is strong evidence for a complaint.

Carriers must accept cash and major credit cards (PUC rules define that as Visa and MasterCard).⁷ A company that insists on cash only, or that claims the card reader is broken, is violating PUC rules. Document the refusal.

Carriers also cannot charge storage for a day they didn’t actually store the vehicle. If the lot was closed over the weekend and you couldn’t retrieve the car, you can’t be billed for those days. Separately, storage charges beyond the first 24 hours cannot begin accruing until the carrier has sent the required notifications to you and any lienholder.¹ This is a frequent source of inflated bills, because the storage meter should pause until that notice goes out.

The 10-Day Notification Rule

Once your car is towed, the carrier has 10 days to notify the Colorado Department of Revenue, the vehicle owner, and any lienholder.¹ This deadline matters for two reasons. Storage fees past the first 24 hours cannot start until that notice is sent. And the carrier’s mechanic’s lien on the vehicle doesn’t attach until 30 days after the owner or lienholder receives the notice, which means a late notice pushes back when the company could ever sell the car to recover its costs. If notice never reached you, make that fact central to any complaint.

Filing a Complaint With the PUC

If a towing company broke any of these rules, you can file a formal complaint with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Gather this material before you file:

The towing invoice, which lists the company’s PUC license number, the itemized charges, and the date and time of the tow.
Photos of the parking area showing the signs at each entrance and any posted parking rules. If signage is missing, photograph the absence.
Photos of your vehicle’s condition when you pick it up, in case of damage from the tow.
The truck number or driver’s name, usually printed on the tow truck or listed on the invoice.

The PUC takes complaints through an online filing system on its consumer page, where you can upload photos and receipts and get a tracking number for the case.⁸ Mail filings are also accepted.

After the complaint arrives, the PUC’s Consumer Affairs team reviews it and may ask for more information. The agency can resolve the matter directly, dismiss it, or send it to the Transportation Investigations Unit for a closer look, where an investigator may visit the storage lot or parking area. If a violation is confirmed, outcomes range from an order releasing the car at no charge or issuing a refund, to Violation Warning Letters, Civil Penalty Assessment Notices with monetary fines, and in severe cases, permit revocation and criminal referral.⁸

When to Use Small Claims Court Instead

The PUC complaint process is administrative. It’s not a lawsuit, and it may not produce a direct refund or compensation for vehicle damage. If you want money back and the PUC route doesn’t deliver, Colorado county courts handle claims up to $25,000 without a lawyer.⁹

Before filing, send the carrier a written demand letter that lists the charges you dispute, explains why the tow or fees broke the law, and states the refund you want. Keep a copy. Judges notice when a business ignored a reasonable demand. Bring your invoice, photos, any PUC complaint file, and the PUC rate schedules showing the lawful maximums.

Extra Protection for Active-Duty Servicemembers

If you’re on active military duty, federal law adds a layer of protection on top of Colorado’s rules. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a towing company holding your vehicle cannot foreclose on or enforce a storage lien during your period of military service or for 90 days afterward, unless it first gets a court order.¹⁰ A company that knowingly sells or auctions a servicemember’s vehicle without that order commits a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison, and the U.S. Department of Justice has sued towing companies that auctioned deployed servicemembers’ cars.¹¹ If you’re a servicemember in this situation, contact your installation’s legal assistance office right away.

1
Colorado General Assembly. HB22-1314 Towing Carrier Nonconsensual Tows
2
Public Utilities Commission. Towing – Industry Info
3
Justia. Colorado Code 40-10.1-405 – Nonconsensual Tows – Rights of Owners, Operators, and Lienholders – Rules
4
Colorado Secretary of State. Adopted Rules – PUC Towing Carrier Regulations
5
Public Utilities Commission. PUC Towing Rates
6
Public Utilities Commission. PUC Approved Fees – Effective March 15, 2026
7
Legal Information Institute. 4 CCR 723-6-6512 – Release of Motor Vehicle and Personal Property
8
Public Utilities Commission. Towing – Consumer Info
9
Colorado Judicial Branch. Cases for $25,000 or Less
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens
11
United States Department of Justice. DOJ Sues California Towing Company for Illegally Auctioning Servicemembers’ Vehicles