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History of towing in Texas
How towing rules in Texas took shape: ordinances, contracts, court rulings and state laws, in date order. Every entry links to its source.
How to read this timeline. Entries are in date order. Most rest on a court opinion, a law or a government record. Entries marked "Not yet verified" rest on one secondary or self-reported source, and entries marked "From a news report" rest on news coverage. We leave out private people's names and accusations against companies that have no published outcome.
The early codes (1984 to 2002)
Property Code chapter 70, which lets garages and others hold a vehicle for unpaid charges and later sell it after notice, takes effect.
The Transportation Code is enacted, including chapter 683 on abandoned vehicles and the sections on parking-lot towing and tow hearings that later became the Texas Towing and Booting Act.
Source: Texas Transportation Code ch. 683 (abandoned motor vehicles); Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
The storage-lot and towing acts (2003 to 2010)
The Vehicle Storage Facility Act (Occupations Code chapter 2303), passed in 2001, takes effect. It sets the notice, fee and sale rules for licensed storage lots.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2303 (Vehicle Storage Facility Act)
H.B. 480 adds rules that storage lots must take cards for payment and must let owners into the glove box to get ownership papers.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2303 (Vehicle Storage Facility Act)
H.B. 2094 moves the towing and tow-hearing chapters of the Transportation Code (chapters 684 and 685) into the Occupations Code as chapter 2308, now called the Texas Towing and Booting Act.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
H.B. 2571 and S.B. 2153 take effect: state rules for booting, tow hearings in the justice court where the car was towed, higher penalties for violations, and license suspension for unpaid tow-hearing judgments.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act); H.B. 2571 (2009) bill analysis, Texas Legislature
TDLR's first statewide maximums for private-property tows (16 TAC sec. 86.455) take effect, under the 2009 law requiring a fee study.
Date from the rule's source note, read on an unofficial copy. Amounts not yet found.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act); 16 Tex. Admin. Code sec. 86.455 with source note (Cornell LII copy)
State fee caps and the end of state booting licenses (2011 to 2019)
H.B. 3510 adds sec. 2308.2065: no nonconsent tow fee above the state or city amount, no fees that are not on an approved list, and TDLR may order refunds.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
The state maximum for a private-property car tow becomes $255.
Date from the rule's source note on an unofficial copy; the $255 amount is confirmed by TDLR's 2021 notice.
Source: 16 Tex. Admin. Code sec. 86.455 with source note (Cornell LII copy); TDLR news: changes to private property towing fees (Oct. 21, 2021)
S.B. 2065 is signed. It ends state licenses for booting companies and operators as of September 1, 2018 and leaves booting rules to local governments.
Source: S.B. 2065 (2017) bill analysis, Texas Legislature; Texas Occupations Code ch. 2308 (Texas Towing and Booting Act)
TDLR stops routine inspections of tow companies and tow trucks.
Source: TDLR news: tow inspections discontinued (Feb. 12, 2019)
H.B. 1140 lets the state adjust storage and impoundment fee maximums for inflation every odd-numbered year.
Source: Texas Occupations Code ch. 2303 (Vehicle Storage Facility Act); TDLR news: updates to tow and VSF laws (Feb. 19, 2020)
Inflation adjustments, Sunset review and new police-tow powers (2020 to 2026)
First inflation-adjusted storage maximums: $20.64 a day (25 feet or less), $36.11 for longer vehicles, and a $20.64 impoundment fee.
Source: TDLR news: updates to tow and VSF laws (Feb. 19, 2020)
TDLR tells tow companies and storage lots they may add a credit card surcharge no larger than what the card issuer charges them.
The Sunset Commission's staff report on TDLR describes vehicle 'flipping' schemes as common in the Houston area and tow operators re-licensing under new business names.
Source: Sunset Advisory Commission, TDLR Staff Report with Final Results (2020-2021)
H.B. 914 lets designated city employees, such as parking officers, have illegally parked or abandoned vehicles towed from public streets.
Source: TDLR news: HB 914, municipal employees may order tows (Sept. 15, 2021)
The state maximum for a private-property car tow rises from $255 to $272, and the drop charge from $127 to $135.
Source: TDLR news: changes to private property towing fees (Oct. 21, 2021)
Storage maximums become $21.03 a day (25 feet or less) and $36.80 for longer vehicles.
TDLR's Oct. 21, 2021 notice: storage 'increased from $20.64 to $21.03' and from $36.11 to $36.80, and 'Licensees may start employing the new fees listed above on November 1, 2021' (re-read 2026-10-08).
Source: TDLR news: changes to private property towing fees (Oct. 21, 2021); TDLR news: new VSF storage fees start Jan. 1, 2024
Storage maximums become $22.85 a day (25 feet or less) and $39.99 for longer vehicles, with a $22.85 impoundment fee.
S.B. 857 lets police remove a vehicle driven by someone without a license or required insurance, and H.B. 3928 lets storage lots publish some notices on a TDLR-approved website.
Source: Texas Transportation Code ch. 545 (sec. 545.305, police removal); Texas Occupations Code ch. 2303 (Vehicle Storage Facility Act)
TDLR reports 2,205 consumer complaints about tow companies and 612 about storage lots in fiscal year 2025.
Source: TDLR: tow complaint statistics, fiscal year 2025 (PDF); TDLR: VSF complaint statistics, fiscal year 2025 (PDF)
For the rates over the years, see tow and storage rates. Know a record that belongs here? Email corrections@towedhelp.org.
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