In Florida, there is no minimum waiting period before you can remove a vehicle someone has left on your property without permission. You can call a licensed towing company and have the car taken away immediately, no matter how long it has been sitting there.1Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 715.07 The timeline most property owners end up caring about is a different one: how long the vehicle’s owner has to reclaim the car once it’s at the storage lot, which runs 35 or 57 days depending on the vehicle’s age.
You Can Tow It Right Away
A property owner, lessee, or someone they authorize can have an unauthorized vehicle removed at any time. You don’t have to leave a note, try to find the owner, or call the police first, and you owe nothing for the removal, transport, or storage. The vehicle’s owner is on the hook for all of that.1Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 715.07
What you can’t do is take matters into your own hands. Moving the car yourself, claiming it, or trying to sell it are all off the table. The only lawful route is a company regularly in the business of towing.
Signs You May Need To Post First
If the property is a single-family home or land obviously part of one, you don’t need any signage before towing. The statute specifically exempts that setting.1Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 715.07
Every other kind of private property is different. Apartment complexes, condominiums, and commercial lots must have tow-away zone signs posted continuously for at least 24 hours before any vehicle can be removed. The statute spells out the lettering size, placement at driveways and along frontage, mounting height, and required content, including the towing company’s name and phone number. A small business with 20 or fewer spaces can use a simpler customer-parking-only sign.1Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 715.07 If you manage one of these properties, check the full specifications before ordering signs, and ask your municipality whether a local permit is required.
What the Tow Company Must Do Next
Once the car is hooked up and gone, a separate set of rules kicks in, and these are the ones that determine how long the whole situation takes to resolve.
Within 30 minutes of the tow, the company must notify the local police or sheriff with the storage location, time, and vehicle details. The storage lot has to sit within 10 miles of the pickup point in counties with 500,000 or more residents, or within 15 miles in smaller counties.1Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 715.07
The towing company then has a legal lien on the vehicle for its charges. It must send certified mail notice to the registered owner, any lienholders, and the insurer within 5 business days of the storage date, using an approved third-party service. Weekends and federal holidays don’t count toward that deadline. The company runs the Florida DHSMV database, and a national title system for out-of-state plates, to find the right addresses. If it fails to make a good-faith notification effort, it loses the right to charge storage at all. If it notifies the owner but misses a lienholder, storage charges against that lienholder are capped at five days.2Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 713.78
The owner’s window to reclaim the car depends on the vehicle’s age:
- More than 3 model years old: the towing company can sell the vehicle 35 days after the storage date.
- 3 model years old or newer: the towing company can sell the vehicle 57 days after storage.
Before any sale, the company must send certified-mail notice of sale to the registered owner and any lienholders at least 30 days ahead, and publish public notice of the auction on an approved third-party website at least 20 days ahead. For newer vehicles, the initial notice of lien cannot be sent less than 52 days before the sale date.2Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 713.78
At any point during that waiting period, the owner can reclaim the vehicle by paying the outstanding towing and storage charges plus an administrative fee capped at $250. No storage fee applies if the vehicle is picked up within 6 hours of being stored.2Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 713.78
If You Want To Keep the Car
A vehicle left on your land does not become yours. The only legal way to take ownership is to buy it at the public auction the towing company holds after the lien period expires, and you bid against anyone else who shows up. Winning bidders pay cash and receive paperwork they then submit to the Florida DHSMV to get a title in their name, which issues free of prior liens unless a court orders otherwise.2Justia Law. Florida Code Title XL – Section 713.78
If no one bids, the towing company applies for the title itself. You could then approach the company about a private purchase.
Your Own Inoperable Vehicle Is a Different Question
The towing statutes above all deal with someone else’s car. If the question is how long you can leave your own broken-down, unregistered, or wrecked vehicle on your own property, that’s governed by local code enforcement, not state law. Many Florida cities and counties classify such a vehicle as a nuisance and can issue citations with escalating daily fines, often with an exception for vehicles kept inside an enclosed garage or fully screened from public view. Specific definitions, deadlines, and grace periods vary, so check with your city or county code enforcement office.