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Public records about towing in Denver
Audits, reports, rules and contracts about towing in Denver, each with a short summary in plain words and a link to the agency's own copy.
These are government documents. We link to the official copies. Summaries are ours; read the record itself before you rely on it.
PUC Towing Consumer Information page, with refund figures for 2022-2024
Colorado Public Utilities Commission ·
Explains how the PUC handles towing complaints (Consumer Affairs, then investigators; warning letters, civil penalties, refunds) and links the state forms: the reduced-payment release form, the release form for authorized operators and the property owner tow authorization form. It reports 469 refunds totaling $280,289.35 from 2022 through 2024, and that tow companies must now file yearly operating data.
Legal ad: sale of abandoned and confiscated vehicles (posted October 5, 2026)
City and County of Denver, Department of General Services ·
The City's public notice that cars held more than 30 days at the Sheriff's impound lot and not claimed will be sold at public auction, with the sale list for the October 21, 2026 auction. The auction page also posts results of earlier sales.
We link the City's sale list but do not copy it, because it lists individual vehicles.
Last checked .
Denver Revised Municipal Code: impoundment of vehicles (secs. 54-811 to 54-816)
City and County of Denver (City Council) ·
The City's rules for impounding cars: when the City may impound, the charges ($120 tow and $20 a day for cars up to 6,000 lbs.), when charges are waived, the certified notice and 10-day hearing request, and how unclaimed cars are auctioned, scrapped or donated. The history notes list each ordinance that changed these sections since 1950.
The PUC's posted maximums for each period since March 15, 2023: private-property tow, storage, drop charge, after-hours release, notice letter, and police-ordered hourly rates, by vehicle weight. The current amounts reflect a 2.28% inflation adjustment.
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform ·
The state's periodic review of the PUC. Its towing parts give a timeline of towing regulation since 1971, note that towing-related cases rose sharply after HB 22-1314 while safety reviews fell, and recommend that towing be reviewed again with the rest of transportation; towing regulation is now set to end in 2030 unless continued.
The state rules for tow companies: permits, signed tow authorization, photos before hookup, invoices, maximum rates and how they are adjusted each March 15, release of cars and belongings, and signs. Denver's pack quotes these rules for private-property tows.
Attorney General Assurance of Discontinuance with a towing company (December 21, 2023)
Colorado Attorney General, Consumer Protection Section ·
A settlement under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act with Towing Holdings LLC (doing business as Wyatts Towing). It describes the State's allegations about permit lapses, tows authorized by tow company staff, notice fees and the handling of sale proceeds, records the company's denials, and sets terms: $764,000 to the State (partly for restitution), $236,000 in balances not collected, refunds for tows done in error, and audits.
The company denied the allegations; the agreement is not a finding that it broke the law.
Last checked .
PUC Decision R23-0721: rules to carry out HB 22-1314
Colorado Public Utilities Commission (Administrative Law Judge) ·
The recommended decision in Proceeding No. 23R-0085TO that rewrote the towing rules after the 2022 law. It discusses public comments, the Towing Task Force, the reduced-payment release (15% or $60), the end of drop charges for residential tows, and storage limits, and attaches the adopted rule text with the base rate amounts.
Ordinance 373-23: City tow reports to City Council (sec. 54-815.5)
City and County of Denver (City Council) ·
Adopted May 8, 2023. Every City agency that tows or impounds cars must report to City Council twice a year (May 1 and November 1, starting August 10, 2023) on each tow: any attempt to contact the owner first, the time and reason, photos of major damage, and when the car was picked up. The same ordinance repealed the old section on notices left on illegally parked cars.
We have not found the reports themselves online. They are on our list for a Colorado Open Records Act request.
Last checked .
Towing Task Force Report to the PUC (October 26, 2022)
Colorado Towing Task Force (C.R.S. 40-10.1-403) ·
The state task force's report on maximum rates for nonconsensual tows. It gives the 2021 maximum private-property tow charge ($203.90 for cars), compares it with the median consensual tow price, summarizes a survey of tow companies (42 of about 725 answered), and lists what HB 22-1314 changed.
PUC Decision C19-0994: notice of proposed towing rules (Proceeding 19R-0709TO)
Colorado Public Utilities Commission ·
Opened the rulemaking that led to yearly inflation adjustments of tow rates. It explains that the industry had asked for higher rates based on 2014 cost data, and that a 2019 stakeholder process found no agreement on tow authorization, signs or release of belongings.