Get Your Towed Car Back in San Antonio: Steps, ID, Payment

Answers taken from the rules Towed in San Antonio uses. Each one gives its official source and the date that source was checked. Which rules apply depends on the facts of each tow; the tool asks about them. Rules current as of October 5, 2026.

This website and the documents it makes are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Where the car is

SAPD's Impounded Vehicles page says: "Vehicles that have been impounded or towed are handled by Alanis Wrecker Service, LLC." It points to the Autura website (search.autoreturn.com) to locate a vehicle and find out how to recover it. The San Antonio Impound Facility is at 3625 Growdon Rd., San Antonio, TX 78227, open Monday-Sunday, 24 hours; Alanis Wrecker Service: 210-881-8440. Vehicles unclaimed after 30 days, after the owner has been notified, can be sold at public auction. A vehicle blocking your driveway can be reported to SAPD's non-emergency line, 210-207-7273.

Source: SAPD, Impounded Vehicles (sa.gov); SAPD General Manual Procedure 607.04 · Checked on October 5, 2026

The law requires that, where a parking facility posts tow-away signs, the owner of a vehicle towed from the facility must be able to locate the vehicle by calling the telephone number on the sign.

Source: Occ. Code § 2308.303 · Checked on September 28, 2026

The law requires a vehicle storage facility that accepts a vehicle towed under ch. 2308 (other than a police-requested incident management tow) to report to the city police department (or the county sheriff outside a city with police), within two hours after receiving it, the vehicle's description, plate, VIN if ascertainable, the location it was towed from, and the storage facility's name and location.

Source: Occ. Code § 2308.2565(a); see also § 2303.1511 · Checked on September 28, 2026

ID and papers the lot must accept

The TDLR rule requires a storage facility to let the owner or authorized representative take the vehicle during the hours on its posted sign, on payment of all fees due and valid photo ID, plus any one of: a notarized power of attorney; a court order; a certificate of title; a tax collector's receipt and registration renewal card with conforming ID; name and address matching Texas DMV records; a current lease or rental agreement; law enforcement ID; the TDLR-approved form (which the VSF must make available); or proof of insurance.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.710(a)(3) · Checked on October 5, 2026

The law bars a vehicle storage facility from refusing to release a vehicle to its owner or operator, or requiring a sworn affidavit, solely because the owner's or operator's valid photo ID from Texas, another state or a federal agency shows a different address than the title and registration. It must accept evidence of financial responsibility (proof of insurance) as an additional form of identification establishing ownership or right of possession or control. It need not release the vehicle unless the charges regulated by ch. 2303 or 2308 are paid and valid photo ID is shown.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.160 · Checked on September 28, 2026

SAPD's impound lot releases a vehicle after the towing and storage charges are paid, on one of these: the certificate of title "or other satisfactory proof" that you are the owner; or the title plus a current power of attorney from the owner naming the person picking it up. A lienholder may get the vehicle under the bond rules in § 19-54(a)(3). A court order directing release also works (§ 19-54(b)).

Source: San Antonio City Code § 19-54 · Checked on October 5, 2026

Payment the lot must accept

Inside San Antonio, a towing company or storage lot must accept payment by electronic check, debit card or credit card for any charge for delivering or storing a vehicle. It may not refuse to release the vehicle because it can't take those payments, unless the reason is outside its control, "such as a power outage or machine malfunction". It may refuse a credit or debit card if the named cardholder is not present.

Source: San Antonio City Code § 19-402(f) · Checked on October 5, 2026

The law requires a private or governmental vehicle storage facility to accept cash, debit card and credit card for any delivery or storage charge, to conspicuously post a sign stating that it must accept those forms of payment, and bars it from refusing to release a vehicle because it cannot accept a debit or credit card, unless a power outage or machine malfunction, through no fault of the operator, prevents it.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.159 · Checked on September 28, 2026

The TDLR rule requires every storage facility, including government-run lots, to accept cash, debit cards and credit cards. A facility that violates this may not charge storage beyond the date payment by credit card is tendered, in addition to administrative penalties.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.711 · Checked on October 5, 2026

Release hours

The TDLR rule requires a storage facility that accepts vehicles 24 hours a day to have vehicles available for release 24 hours a day within one hour's notice. A facility that does not accept vehicles 24 hours a day must have vehicles available for release within one hour between 8:00 a.m. and midnight Monday-Saturday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays, except nationally recognized holidays; it is not required to release after midnight.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.710(a)(6)-(7) · Checked on October 5, 2026

Belongings in the car

If you show you own the vehicle or have the right to possess it, a storage lot in San Antonio must let you reach the vehicle and take out personal property left in it (anything not permanently attached), unless a law enforcement officer says otherwise. It must give you that property "regardless of whether or not any or all fees associated with the towing or storage of the vehicle have been paid". The lot must ask you for a receipt for what you take.

Source: San Antonio City Code § 19-400 · Checked on October 5, 2026

The law requires a private or governmental vehicle storage facility to let a person claiming to own a stored vehicle access the glove compartment, console or other interior storage area if documents needed to establish the person's identity or ownership are there.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.158 · Checked on September 28, 2026

The TDLR rule entitles a person who shows ownership or right to possession of a stored vehicle, or an authorized representative, to inspect a copy of the tow ticket without paying anything first; to access and remove personal belongings from the vehicle (unless a law enforcement officer indicates otherwise), signing a receipt; to access the vehicle during business hours for insurance or repair estimates; and, on request, to see the towing company's current nonconsent towing fee schedule.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.708(a)-(b) · Checked on October 5, 2026

Papers given at release

The TDLR rule requires a storage facility, when releasing a vehicle, to comply with the hearing-rights provisions of Occ. Code ch. 2308 subch. J, including giving the names, addresses and phone numbers of each justice court in the county (or the state court-directory website) and of the person or law enforcement agency that authorized the tow, and to give the owner or representative a tow ticket. A combined tow ticket and storage invoice must separate "Tow Charges" from "Storage Charges" and show the tow charges exactly as on the tow operator's ticket.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.710(a)(1)-(2) · Checked on October 5, 2026

The TDLR rules bar a storage facility from requiring the owner, operator or agent to sign an authorization or release form to get the vehicle back if the form changes a police-initiated tow from nonconsent to consent status, changes nonconsent storage to consent storage, or imposes additional charges not regulated by TDLR; and bar a storage facility from asking the owner or operator to sign an authorization for a tow, repair or other service when storage resulted from a police-initiated tow.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 85.710(b), 85.708(d) · Checked on October 5, 2026

Notices, deadlines and sale

The law requires a vehicle storage facility that receives a towed Texas-registered vehicle to send written notice to the registered owner and primary lienholder no later than the fifth day, but not earlier than 24 hours, after receiving it (for out-of-state vehicles, to the registered owner and each recorded lienholder by the 14th day). The notice must be correctly addressed, carry sufficient postage, and go by certified mail, return receipt requested, or electronic certified mail. If the notice is late, the facility may not begin charging the daily storage fee until 24 hours after it actually sends the notice.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.151(a), (b), (d), (f) · Checked on September 28, 2026

The law treats a vehicle not claimed before the 10th day after the first notice as abandoned. Unless a law enforcement agency takes over disposal under Transportation Code ch. 683, the facility must send a second notice to the registered owner and each recorded lienholder not earlier than the 15th day and before the 21st day after the first notice. The second notice must repeat the first notice's information, state the facility's right to dispose of the vehicle, and state that failure to claim it before the 30th day after the notice is a waiver of all right, title and interest and consent to sale at a public sale. If the second notice is late, daily storage may not be charged from the 21st day after the first notice until 24 hours after the second notice is sent.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.154(a), (b), (d), (e) · Checked on September 28, 2026

The TDLR rule bars moving a vehicle from the storage facility within the first 31 days of storage without the owner's authorization. If capacity problems force a move, no additional charge may be assessed to the owner or lienholders, notice must be sent at least 72 hours before the move, only fees otherwise allowed by § 85.722 may be charged afterwards, and the facility must tell the owner on request where the vehicle is at all times.

Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code § 85.721 · Checked on October 5, 2026

The law lets a storage facility charge daily storage for no more than five days before the owner notice is mailed or published (Texas-registered vehicles) or before the request for owner information is sent to the other state (out-of-state vehicles), and then for each day after notice until the vehicle is removed and all accrued charges are paid.

Source: Occ. Code § 2303.155(e) · Checked on September 28, 2026