Oregon’s towing laws sit in two clusters of statutes: ORS 98.810 to 98.862 covers tows from private property, and ORS 819.110 to 819.215 covers tows ordered from public roads. Together they control who can tow your car, what notice you must receive, what a tow company can charge, and how you can fight a tow you believe was wrong. You generally have five business days from the notice to request a hearing, and acting fast is the difference between paying a few hundred dollars and losing the car entirely.
When Your Car Can Be Towed
On public roads, a law enforcement officer can take immediate custody of a vehicle under ORS 819.120 when it is disabled, abandoned, or left unattended in a spot that constitutes a hazard or obstruction to traffic.1OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 819.120 – Immediate Custody and Towing of Vehicle Constituting Hazard or Obstruction No advance notice is required.
The statute is specific about what counts as a hazard. A vehicle parked on a freeway within 1,000 feet of an on- or off-ramp qualifies. So does a vehicle left on any highway between sunset and sunrise when it presents a clear danger, or one over 26,000 pounds sitting on the shoulder of a limited-access highway between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. A car temporarily stopped on the shoulder with hazard lights flashing or the hood raised does not count as an obstruction.1OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 819.120 – Immediate Custody and Towing of Vehicle Constituting Hazard or Obstruction
Tows From Private Property
Parking lot and apartment tows are governed more tightly. A tow operator cannot patrol a lot and hook cars at will. Each individual tow requires signed authorization from the property owner or their agent identifying the specific vehicle, and the tow company must keep that authorization on file for at least two years and provide a copy to the vehicle owner free of charge on request.2OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 98.854 – Prohibitions Placed on Tower
The property also has to be posted. Portland requires signs of at least 18 by 24 inches at every driveway entrance within 10 feet of the public right-of-way, showing the tow company’s name and 24-hour phone number.3Portland.gov. TRN-17.02 – Private Property Impound Towing Regulations Other cities set their own sign dimensions, so the exact requirement depends on where you parked.
Tow operators also cannot pay property owners or give them anything of value in exchange for the right to tow from a lot. Providing signs is allowed; offering goods or services below fair market value is not.2OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 98.854 – Prohibitions Placed on Tower The rule exists to shut down kickback arrangements that reward aggressive towing.
One more requirement on the tow company: after removing a vehicle from private property, it must notify local law enforcement of the storage location within one hour. If the tower misses that deadline, it loses its lien for towing and storage charges, which makes the tow effectively unenforceable from the company’s side.
Notice You Should Receive After a Tow
Two separate written notices can be triggered by a single tow.
When law enforcement takes immediate custody of a vehicle under ORS 819.120, the authority that ordered the tow must send written notice by certified mail within 48 hours, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays.4OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 819.180 – Notice After Taking Into Custody and Towing It goes to the registered owner and any lienholders shown in DOT records.
The tow company that physically performs a law-enforcement tow must send its own written notice by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing no later than the third business day after the vehicle is placed in storage.5State Board of Towing. Abandoned Vehicle Notification
Every notice must tell you that you have the right to a prompt hearing to contest both the validity of the tow and the reasonableness of the charges.5State Board of Towing. Abandoned Vehicle Notification A missing or defective notice is one of the strongest arguments you can bring to a hearing.
What a Tow Can Cost
Oregon does not set a single statewide cap on towing and storage fees. Maximums are established at the local level, so rates vary between cities and counties. What the state does require is an itemized invoice showing every charge.
Portland’s published rates give a useful benchmark. As of July 2025, a standard municipal tow of a Class A vehicle (most passenger cars) in Portland costs $277 total: a $202 base rate, a $23 dispatch fee, and a $52 city service fee. Tows requested by parking enforcement carry an additional $17 fee. After-hours or holiday access to the lot costs $50, and any on-scene time over 30 minutes runs $27 per additional quarter-hour.6Portland.gov. Municipal Tow Rate Sheet Effective July 1, 2025
Storage for private-property impound tows in Portland runs $32 per day for a standard vehicle and $43 per day for vehicles over 20 feet long, with a four-hour grace period before storage charges begin. Lien filing fees run from $47 for vehicles valued under $1,000 to $99 for vehicles worth more than $2,500 or registered out of state. Lien fees can be charged once a vehicle has been in storage for five days.7Portland.gov. Private Property Impound Rates
Outside Portland, storage generally falls somewhere between $25 and $50 per day for passenger vehicles, with larger vehicles costing more. Check with your local city or county for applicable maximums. The math adds up quickly, and waiting a week can easily double what you owe.
Tow companies must disclose in writing what forms of payment they accept. If a tower accepts cash, it must have exact change available no later than the end of the next business day.2OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 98.854 – Prohibitions Placed on Tower State law does not require credit or debit card acceptance, though some local rules do; Portland’s private-property impound rules, for instance, require multiple payment methods.
Disputing a Tow
If you believe your vehicle was towed improperly, you can request a hearing to challenge both the validity of the tow and the reasonableness of the charges. The request must be in writing and received within five days of the notice being mailed or posted, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.8Cornell Law School. Oregon Administrative Code 734-020-0148 – Tow Hearing Process Five business days is a tight window.
Your request must explain why you believe the tow was not justified. Once received, the hearing must be scheduled within 72 hours (again excluding weekends and holidays), with notice going to everyone with a recorded interest in the vehicle. If an authority planned to tow your vehicle under the abandoned-vehicle process and receives a hearing request before the tow happens, the tow cannot proceed unless the vehicle is a hazard.9OregonLaws. Oregon Revised Statutes ORS 819.190 – Hearing to Contest Validity of Custody and Towing
Bring evidence. Photographs of parking signs or the lack of them, dated receipts placing you elsewhere, a permit sticker, witness statements, or anything showing your vehicle was lawfully parked. If the hearing officer finds the tow was unlawful, you can seek reimbursement of towing and storage fees.
Common Grounds for Private-Property Disputes
Most private-lot disputes turn on signage and paperwork. Ask for the signed authorization the tow company is required to keep on file. If none exists, the tow was not authorized. If the tow company never reported the storage location to law enforcement within one hour, it has forfeited its lien. Either finding is a strong basis for challenging the tow, and if the company charged more than the local maximum, small claims court is a viable follow-up.
Getting to Your Car and Belongings Before You Pay
Being told you cannot reach items inside your own car without paying hundreds of dollars first is one of the ugliest parts of an impound. Portland addresses this directly. Private-property impound towers cannot require payment before letting you inspect the condition of your vehicle or its contents during regular business hours, at any time within the first 30 days after the tow, as long as you can show proof of ownership. For an animal left in the vehicle or items of an emergency nature, the tower must allow access without any fee.10Portland.gov. TRN-17.05 – Private Property Impound Tows Prohibitions An after-hours gate fee may still apply outside business hours.
Outside Portland, access rules vary by jurisdiction. If a company refuses to let you retrieve essentials like medication, identification, or a child car seat, call local law enforcement or your city’s consumer protection office.
If Your Car Sits Too Long: Liens and Sales
A towed vehicle unclaimed for more than 30 days can have a lien executed against it and its contents. Once the lien is in place, the tow company can sell or demolish the vehicle under ORS Chapter 819.11Portland.gov. Portland City Code 16.30.510 – Towing and Storage Rates Before disposing of the vehicle, the company must send a final notice to the registered owner and known lienholders with the deadline to reclaim it and the total owed.
Vehicles appraised at $500 or less move through an expedited process under ORS 819.215. More valuable vehicles typically go to public auction, with proceeds applied first to towing and storage. If the sale does not cover the balance, the company can send the remainder to collections, and unpaid tow debt in collections can hit your credit report. Ignoring the notices rarely helps.
Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
How your car is towed matters more for an EV or plug-in hybrid than for a conventional car. Most EVs cannot be flat-towed or put on a dolly with drive wheels on the ground. Dragging an EV at highway speed forces the electric motor to spin faster than it was designed to while the vehicle’s computers are off, feeding uncontrolled power back into the high-voltage system, and the result can be destroyed inverters and other expensive electronics.
A flatbed is the safe default. Confirm the operator knows how to activate your vehicle’s transport or tow mode, and that they use wheel straps or manufacturer-approved tie-downs rather than hooking onto suspension arms, coolant lines, or battery structures. Photograph the car before it goes on the truck. Damage claims from an improperly towed EV can easily exceed the cost of the tow itself, and pre-tow photos are usually what makes such a claim work.
Active-Duty Military Protections
Servicemembers on active duty get an added protection under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Under 50 U.S.C. ยง 3958, no one holding a lien on a servicemember’s property may foreclose on or enforce the lien during the period of military service or for 90 days afterward without a court order, and the statute defines “lien” to include liens for storage, repair, or cleaning of property.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens
In practice, a tow company cannot auction, scrap, or otherwise dispose of an active-duty servicemember’s vehicle over a storage lien without going to court first. If you are deployed or on active duty and your vehicle has been towed, notify the tow company of your military status in writing as soon as possible. The debt does not disappear, but the tow company has to follow a judicial process before doing anything irreversible.
Damage During the Tow
Whether damage happened during the tow or before it comes down almost entirely to documentation. If you know your car is about to be towed, photograph every panel, bumper, and wheel before the truck hooks up. If you discover damage at the lot, photograph it right there and ask for a copy of the tow company’s incident report.
Oregon tow companies are required to carry substantial insurance, so a legitimate damage claim has a realistic path to recovery. Get a professional damage assessment if the company disputes the claim, save every receipt, and keep copies of all communications. If the company will not pay, small claims court handles most tow damage disputes that do not justify hiring an attorney.