Florida private property towing laws are set out in Section 715.07 of the Florida Statutes, which lets a property owner have an unauthorized vehicle removed at the vehicle owner’s expense only if specific signage, notice, and release rules are followed. Skip any of those steps and the tow can be challenged, with the property owner personally on the hook for the removal cost, storage, damages, and attorney’s fees.
What the Law Requires Before a Car Can Be Towed
A property owner, lessee, or their authorized agent (including a condominium association’s designated representative) can order an unauthorized vehicle removed without paying for the tow themselves. The removal must be done by a company regularly engaged in the towing business, and that company has to file a current rate schedule with local law enforcement and keep an identical copy posted at its storage site along with the written authorization from the property owner.
The signage rules are where many tows fall apart. Before any vehicle can be towed from private property, the owner must post notice using light-reflective letters on a contrasting background. The main warning text has to be at least two inches tall, and the words “tow-away zone” must appear in letters at least four inches tall. The sign also has to show the towing company’s name and current phone number.
Florida courts have treated signage compliance as a threshold question. If the sign is missing, undersized, or doesn’t name the towing company, the tow can be improper regardless of whether the vehicle actually belonged there. Handwritten notes and signs missing the required information expose the property owner every time a car gets hooked.
Within 30 minutes of completing the tow, the towing company has to notify the local police department (or the county sheriff in unincorporated areas) with the storage location, the time of the tow, and the vehicle’s make, model, color, and license plate. The company also records the name of the person at the department who took the report. This notice is what lets you find your car quickly, and the missing paper trail is often the first sign that something went wrong.
If You Catch Them Loading Your Car
If you return to your vehicle while it’s being hooked up but before it has left the property, the tow operator has to stop and give you the chance to take it back. You will owe a drop fee, but that fee is capped at one-half of the company’s posted towing rate. If you can’t pay after being given a reasonable chance to do so, the operator can go ahead and complete the tow.
When the vehicle is released on-site, the operator must give you a detailed, signed receipt. Keep it. If the fee turns out to be higher than half the posted rate, or if the operator demanded full price before releasing the car, that receipt is the evidence you need. Refusing to stop or demanding a full-price tow at the scene is a statutory violation and gives you grounds to complain or sue.
Getting Your Vehicle Out of Storage
Once the car is at the storage lot, the towing company has to release it to you within one hour of your request. You have the right to inspect the vehicle before you accept it, and no company can condition the release on signing a waiver of liability for damage. If you see damage, note it on the spot. Waiting until you get home weakens any later claim.
Whether you ask or not, the company has to give you a detailed receipt showing its legal name when you pay. This is your main document if the charges turn out to be inflated, if the fees exceed what the posted rate schedule allowed, or if it turns out the company wasn’t properly authorized to tow from that location in the first place.
When a Tow Is Wrongful and What You Can Recover
If a property owner or their agent improperly causes a vehicle to be removed, they are personally liable for the cost of removal, transportation, and storage, any damage done during the process, attorney’s fees, and court costs. The fee-shifting piece is unusual in Florida law and it’s what makes hiring a lawyer realistic for a dispute over a few hundred dollars. The towing company itself can also be liable where it broke the rules on its end.
Common grounds for challenging a tow:
- Signage that was missing, too small, or didn’t list the towing company’s name and phone number.
- Failure to notify law enforcement within 30 minutes of the tow.
- Towing by a company whose rate schedule and authorization weren’t on file with local law enforcement and posted at the storage site.
- Refusing to release the vehicle on-site when the owner returned before it left the property, or charging more than half the posted rate as a drop fee.
- Demanding a liability waiver as a condition of release, or refusing to allow pre-release inspection.
You have two main avenues. You can file a complaint with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees towing companies in Florida and can investigate violations and impose penalties. You can also sue in civil court, where the question is whether the statutory requirements were actually met. A written demand letter to the property owner and the towing company, spelling out which parts of Section 715.07 were violated, is often the practical first step and sometimes resolves the matter without a lawsuit.
Situations Section 715.07 Doesn’t Fully Cover
A few parking disputes sit outside the private property towing framework or carry extra rules on top of it.
Disabled parking spaces. Unlike ordinary private property towing, parking in a space reserved for people with disabilities without a valid permit can draw a direct citation from law enforcement under state traffic law. The fines are much higher than standard parking tickets. In Miami-Dade County, the fine for unlawfully parking in a disabled-permit-only space is $257 with no early-pay discount, and blocking a disabled access ramp or aisle carries a $157 fine. A standard overtime or restricted parking ticket in the same county starts at $36. Fine schedules vary by municipality but the pattern holds statewide.
Electric vehicle charging spaces. Under Section 366.94, parking a non-electric vehicle in a space designated for EV charging is a noncriminal traffic infraction, and an officer can cite the driver. The statute itself does not authorize towing for this violation; a tow is only an option if the property owner has independently satisfied the general private property towing rules above.
Active-duty servicemembers. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, at 50 U.S.C. ยง 3958, blocks a towing or storage lienholder from enforcing or foreclosing on a lien against a servicemember’s vehicle during active duty and for 90 days afterward without a court order. A towing company cannot auction off or dispose of the vehicle to recover unpaid storage fees without going to court first, and if military service has materially affected the servicemember’s ability to pay, the court can pause the proceedings or adjust the obligation. Knowing violations carry fines and up to one year of imprisonment, and the Department of Justice has pursued companies that sold servicemembers’ vehicles without court authorization. If you or a family member is on active duty, raise the SCRA early in any dispute over a towed vehicle.
Local ordinances can also add requirements on top of Section 715.07, especially for public streets, city-owned lots, residential permit zones, and parking near schools or hospitals. State law sets the floor, so check your city or county’s rules before assuming the state statute is the whole picture.