Towed From a Private Lot in Pflugerville? Here's How to Get Your Car Back

If your car was towed from a private lot in Texas, three facts decide the next hour. The tow-away sign at the lot entrance must say where the car can be recovered. The storage lot can charge at most $272 for the tow of a vehicle up to 10,000 lbs plus $22.85 a day in storage. And you have 14 days, not counting weekends and holidays, to ask a justice court to rule on whether the tow was legal.

Pflugerville, Round Rock and Hutto have added apartment communities faster than almost anywhere in Texas, and every one of them has a tow contract. This is the guide for the morning you walk out and the car is gone.

How do I find out where my car was towed?

Start with the sign. Texas requires a parking facility that tows to post signs at each entrance stating that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense and giving the information needed to recover the vehicle, including where it is stored. Read it, photograph it, and photograph the spot you were parked in and anything painted or posted around it.

Then call the storage facility on the sign. Confirm the car is there, what the current bill is, their hours, and what documents they want. If there is no sign, or the sign is missing information, call the Pflugerville Police non-emergency line to locate the vehicle. Towing companies that perform private-property tows are required to report them to local law enforcement, so the police can tell you which facility has the car.

How much can a private property tow cost in Texas?

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation sets the ceiling. A city or county can go lower, never higher. For a normal car, SUV or pickup, this is the most the bill can contain.

Source: TDLR, Vehicle Storage Facility Fees and Other Charges

Three things a storage lot in Texas may not charge: an environmental fee, a notary fee, or any fee to get into your own car for documents or personal property. If the bill has anything on it that is not in the table above, ask what rule allows it and photograph the bill. For how these caps compare to a tow you order yourself, see what towing costs in Texas.

What can I do if my car is being hooked up right now?

You have more rights at the scene than most people realize. Texas splits the moment into two stages, and what you owe depends on which one you walked into.

1. 01The driver has not finished hooking up. You may take the car back. No fee, and the driver cannot demand proof of ownership before releasing it.
2. 02The car is fully hooked but the truck is still in the lot. You may keep the car by paying the drop fee, $135 for a vehicle up to 10,000 lbs. The driver must accept cash, credit or debit for it. No proof of ownership required.
3. 03The truck has left the lot. The tow fee applies and the car goes to the storage facility. From here the process below is your route.

Source: TDLR, Consumer Information about Towing (release at the scene, drop fees, payment)

Stay calm and stay out of the way of the truck. Arguing on the deck of a flatbed has never once ended well. Say clearly that you are the owner and that you want the vehicle released, then let the stage you are in decide what you owe.

What do I need to get my car out of the storage lot?

Bring a government photo ID and proof you own or are entitled to the vehicle, such as the registration, title or an insurance card in your name. If your documents are in the car, the facility must let you into the vehicle to get them, and it may not charge you for that access.

• Call ahead for the exact total. Storage accrues daily, so the number changes by the morning.
• The facility must accept cash, debit and credit cards for every fee associated with the tow and storage. A "cash only" sign at a licensed lot is itself a violation worth reporting to TDLR.
• Get the itemized written bill. It must list each service and the date it was performed.
• If the car was damaged in the tow, photograph it on the lot before you drive off, and get the tow company's name, phone and TDLR certificate number from the tow ticket.

Pay the bill even if you intend to contest the tow. Storage keeps running while you argue, and winning the hearing later gets your money back. If the car will not start after sitting, a jump start at the lot is cheaper than a second tow. If it will not drive, we can move it from the storage lot to your mechanic.

Was the tow legal? Your right to a tow hearing in Texas

Any owner or operator of a towed vehicle can ask a justice court to decide whether probable cause existed for the tow. The request must be in writing and delivered before the 14th day after the car was towed, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The court may charge a $20 filing fee and must hold the hearing within 21 days of receiving the request.

One important exception. If the towing company or storage facility never gave you the written notice of your rights that Texas requires, the 14-day deadline does not apply and you can request the hearing at any time.

Source: Texas Occupations Code § 2308.456 (hearing request deadline and the no-notice exception)

File in any justice court in the county the car was towed from. For Pflugerville that is Travis County; for Round Rock and Hutto it is Williamson County. The request needs your contact details, where the car was taken from, the date, who authorized the tow, the tow company and storage facility details, a copy of any receipt, and either photos of the signs or a statement that none were posted. If the court finds the tow was not justified, the property or the tow company owes you the fees back.

How to avoid being towed from a private lot in Pflugerville, Round Rock and Hutto

Almost every private-lot tow in the area is one of four things: a fire lane, a reserved or permit space, a visitor spot past its time limit, or a vehicle that looks abandoned. All four are avoidable.

• Read the visitor rules the night you arrive. Most Pflugerville and Round Rock apartment communities limit guest parking by hours or require a visitor pass. The sign is usually at the leasing office, not the space.
• Never park in a fire lane, even for a minute. Fire lanes and accessible spaces can be towed immediately under Texas rules, without the waiting periods that apply to other violations.
• Keep a dead car visible as not abandoned. A note on the dash with your phone number and a date, plus a call to the office, stops most abandonment tows. If it needs to move, a flatbed can take it to a shop before the lot acts.
• Check the shopping-center signs. Lots along I-35 and SH-130 that look shared often belong to one business. Parking there and walking next door is the classic tow.

Our service area runs across all of these communities, and the same tow contracts cover most of them. The signage rules do not change from one lot to the next, so once you know what to look for, you will see it everywhere.

How YAS Towing handles private property tows

YAS Towing does private property towing for apartment communities, HOAs and businesses in Pflugerville and Round Rock, and the only way that work is defensible is to follow Chapter 2308 to the letter. That means compliant signage checked before the first tow, photos and time stamps on every vehicle, a tow ticket with the company's license and the operator's TDLR number on it, and vehicle owners directed to a licensed storage facility that accepts cash, debit and credit.

If you are a vehicle owner, you will never get a mystery bill from us. If you are a property manager who wants the lot cleared without the liability, talk to dispatch and we will walk your signage first. Either way, the people answering the phone are local and reachable 24 hours a day.