If your El Paso apartment complex towed your guest’s car, the tow is only lawful if the property followed Texas rules on signs, notice, and who can order a removal. Your apartment can tow a guest’s car, but only for specific violations, and only with compliant signs or actual notice. If the landlord also failed to give you the parking rules as Property Code 92.0131 requires, it owes a $100 civil penalty plus your towing and storage costs. If any of those steps failed, you may have grounds to dispute the tow and recover your costs.
Quick Tow EP is a referral service. We connect drivers with independent local tow operators. The driver hires and pays the operator directly, and the operator quotes the price. Quick Tow EP does no towing, roadside work, or storage itself.
Start with the facts before you argue
The first step is to call the number on the no-parking sign to locate the car and confirm the storage facility, as TDLR advises. Then gather photos and documents. If the car is already gone, call the number on the sign first, then photograph the empty space and every sign near it.
- Call the number on the sign to find out where the car is stored.
- Photograph the space where the guest parked, including painted markings, curb paint, and any permit language.
- Photograph every sign at the entrance your guest used, plus any sign at the space itself.
- Photograph your guest’s visitor pass or permit, front and back.
- Check the lease, the parking addendum, and any posted visitor rules.
- Write down the time you first noticed the car was gone.
Save texts, photos, and registration confirmations with timestamps. If management told you something verbally, follow up by email so there is a record.
Can my apartment legally tow my guest’s car?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. At an apartment complex lot, a car may not be left blocking a gate, blocking access to the shared trash area, in a restricted or designated space such as staff spaces, in a marked tow-away zone, or leaking hazardous fluid. Semitrailers, trailers, and truck-tractors are barred unless the lease allows them, under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2308.
An apartment lot may not tow a car merely for expired plates or registration unless a contract provision requires at least 10 days’ written notice to the owner, delivered in person, by certified mail, or attached to the windshield or driver’s window, with a 24-hour phone number. Lease provisions that conflict with Section 2308.253 are void.
So the first question is simple: what exact rule did your guest break? Ask management to name it in writing.
Were the signs actually compliant?
This is where many El Paso tows fall apart. For a sign-based tow, the sign must face and be conspicuously visible to drivers entering, be on the right or left of each driveway or curb-cut entrance, and be permanently mounted with the bottom edge between five and eight feet above the ground. Each sign must be weather-resistant, at least 18 inches wide and 24 inches tall, show the international towing symbol, say who may park and that all others are prohibited, carry wording such as “Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner’s or Operator’s Expense,” state the days and hours of enforcement, and give a phone number with area code answered 24 hours a day to locate a towed car. The full layout rules are in Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2308.
Section 2308.302 sets the required design: a bright red tow-truck symbol on a white background at least four inches tall at the top; below it white letters at least two inches tall on bright red reading “Towing Enforced”; then the other required text in bright red letters at least one inch tall on white; and phone numbers at the bottom in white letters at least one inch tall on red. An otherwise unrestricted lot may restrict individual spaces with a compliant sign at the entrance to that group of spaces or at the end of each space.
Fire lanes not covered by another rule must have red-painted curbs marked “FIRE LANE—TOW AWAY ZONE” in white letters at least three inches tall at intervals of no more than 50 feet.
The sign’s bottom edge must be between five and eight feet above the ground. Photograph any sign that is missing, faded, obscured, or outside that range. That photo may matter later.
What your lease and Texas tenant law require
Texas Property Code Section 92.0131 says a landlord at a multiunit complex must give the tenant the towing or parking rules before the lease is signed, under a heading “Parking” or “Parking Rules” in bold, capitals, or underline. Mid-lease rule changes need written notice, must apply to all tenants for listed reasons or have the tenant’s written consent, and cannot take effect before the 14th day after notice except for a construction or utility emergency.
A landlord who violates those notice rules owes a $100 civil penalty under Property Code Section 92.0131, plus the tenant’s towing and storage costs. The landlord is also liable for damage to the tenant’s car caused by a negligent contracted tow company that lacks insurance covering it.
Section 92.0132 adds that a tenant’s parking permit must run for the whole lease term and may not be ended or suspended before the tenant’s right of possession ends. A permit must run the lease term, but it does not by itself defeat a tow for a listed violation such as blocking a gate or a restricted space.
One honest gap: a visitor pass helps your argument, but the property may still tow for a listed violation such as blocking a gate or parking in a restricted space. Your permission helps your argument, but it does not erase a valid sign.
Who can order a tow, and who actually did
A parking facility owner cannot have a vehicle removed except as the chapter allows, or at the direction of a peace officer or the vehicle’s owner, under Section 2308.254. A towing company may make the tow only with written verification from the parking facility owner that signs are posted or notice was given, only if insured for property damage, and only if the owner requested that specific tow or has a standing written agreement to enforce parking, per Section 2308.255.
Ask management in writing which exact rule was violated and who approved the removal, and get the name and title of whoever did.
Within two hours of accepting the car, the storage facility must report it to the police department of the city it was towed from, or the county sheriff outside a city with a police department, with description, plate, VIN, tow location, and the storage facility’s name and location, under Section 2308.2565. That report is one way to confirm the car was actually towed and not stolen.
How to find the car and get it back
If your car was towed from a parking lot, the TDLR says to call the number on the no-parking sign. If a facility posts compliant signs, the owner must be able to locate the car by calling that number, under Section 2308.303.
Then do this:
- Call the number on the sign and ask for the storage location, removal time, stated violation, and who authorized the tow.
- Verify the yard’s address, current charges, and accepted payment methods before you drive out.
- Bring the right documents (checklist below).
- Inspect the vehicle and ask for the itemized tow ticket before paying.
Bring this paperwork:
- Photo ID: any state driver’s license or ID card, any federal photo ID, or a photo ID from a foreign government such as a Mexico driver’s license or a matricula consular.
- Proof of ownership: any one of a driver’s license whose name matches the registration record, an insurance card naming you, the title, a notarized power of attorney signed by the owner, a tax collector’s receipt plus registration renewal card, a current lease or rental agreement, or TDLR’s Personal Vehicle Owner Removal and Inspection form.
- Payment for the posted charges.
A storage facility may not refuse release just because your valid photo ID shows a different address than the title and registration records, under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2303. If the papers are in the glove box, the facility must let you get to them, under Section 2303.158.
A facility that takes cars 24 hours a day must let you claim or access the car within one hour at any time. One that does not must do so within one hour between 8 a.m. and midnight Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, except national holidays. The phone number on a compliant sign must be answered 24 hours a day. If the yard refuses access within the one-hour window, that is a violation to document.
What it can cost in El Paso
Inside El Paso city limits, Chapter 12.54 of the City Code caps nonconsent tows at $100 for a light duty tow, $350 for a medium duty tow, and $450 for a heavy duty tow, per Section 12.54.020. An additional fee of no more than $25 may be charged for dollies or go-jacks. If the owner or operator is at the scene and the car has not been hooked up, there is no charge. If it is hooked up but not yet towed away, it must be released on payment of one-half the regular tow fee.
Storage is billed per day or part of a day, but a vehicle storage facility may not charge more than one day of storage if the car was there less than 12 hours. A notification fee of up to $50 is allowed, but not if the car is reclaimed within 24 hours or before notice is sent. An impoundment fee of up to $20 is allowed only when the facility had to protect a car with broken or open doors, windows, trunk, hood or similar, plus an inventory or registration lookup, and the bill must list the exact services. In El Paso, Section 12.54.060 adds a $20 police-ordered-tow fee collected at release and remitted to the police department, and a $20 impoundment fee for a vehicle towed to a city-owned storage facility.
These caps cover El Paso city limits only. Socorro, Horizon City, Anthony, Clint, San Elizario, Vinton, Fabens, Canutillo, and Tornillo sit outside the city code, so the TDLR statewide maximums apply there unless a local rule sets lower ones. Confirm which rules apply before you argue about the number. Our post on Texas towing fee limits breaks this down further.
If the tow was wrong: the hearing
After a tow without consent, the owner or operator is entitled to a hearing on whether there was probable cause, under Section 2308.452. The written request must reach the court before the 14th day after the car was placed in storage, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. If the required notice was never given, the deadline does not apply. Separately, the 14 days do not start until the tow company or storage facility gives you the information needed to fill out the request. Missing the deadline waives the hearing.
File in any justice court in the county the car was towed from. The request must include your name, address, and phone, where and when the car was removed, who authorized it, the storage facility’s and tow company’s names, addresses, and phones, copies of receipts or notices, and photos of any parking sign or a statement that no sign was posted. TDLR notes the court may charge a $20 filing fee, and the hearing must be held before the 21st calendar day after the court receives the request.
At the hearing the burden of proof is on the person who asked for it. The issues are probable cause and whether the charge exceeded the allowed amount. If the court finds no probable cause, the tow company, storage facility, parking facility owner, or agency that authorized the tow must pay or reimburse the towing and storage costs. Even with probable cause, an overcharge must be refunded. The court may also award court costs and attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.
You can also file a TDLR complaint and request a tow hearing in justice court, which can order an overcharge refunded. Under Section 12.54.040, violating the fee caps, debris rules, or solicitation rules is an offense punishable by a fine not to exceed $500, per Ordinance 019867. Our guide to illegal tows in Texas walks through the options.
Frequently asked questions
Can my apartment tow my guest’s car without warning me?
Yes, in some cases. Texas law allows a tow without consent when compliant signs were posted at the time of towing and for the preceding 24 hours, or when the driver got actual notice, or when the car blocks an aisle, entry, exit, fire lane, or paved driveway. There is no general rule requiring the complex to call you first.
My guest had a visitor pass. Can they still tow it?
Possibly. A pass helps, but the property may still tow for a listed violation such as blocking a gate or parking in a restricted space. If the car sat in a staff space, a marked tow-away zone, or blocked a gate, the tow may still be valid. Photograph the pass and the space, and ask management which rule applied.
Who do I call first to find my towed car?
Call the number on the no-parking sign at your complex, as TDLR advises. Ask for the storage location, removal time, stated violation, and who authorized the tow. If no sign exists, ask management which operator took the car.
What paperwork should I bring to get the car back?
Bring photo ID, one proof of ownership such as your title, insurance card, or current lease, and payment for the posted charges. A Mexico driver’s license or matricula consular counts as photo ID. If your papers are in the glove box, the facility must let you reach them.
Can they charge me storage if I pick it up right away?
Storage is billed per day or part of a day, but a vehicle storage facility may not charge more than one day of storage if the car was there less than 12 hours. The tow company must issue an itemized tow ticket showing each charge, the licensed name, public phone number, certificate of registration number and the operator’s TDLR license number, so ask for it. In El Paso, check that the tow portion stays within the city caps.
How do I fight the tow if I think it was wrong?
The written request must reach the court before the 14th day after the car was placed in storage, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, and the 14 days do not start until the tow company or storage facility gives you the information needed to fill out the request. Bring photos of the signs, the space, and your permit. If the court finds no probable cause, the towing and storage costs must be paid or reimbursed. Even with probable cause, an overcharge must be refunded, and the court may award court costs and attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.
When to call for a tow
If a car in a lot needs to move, contact the property owner or the number on the posted sign, since a lot tow needs the property’s authorization. Quick Tow EP is a referral service for a tow you arrange for your own vehicle: we connect you with independent operators who quote their own price. Quick Tow EP does not tow, dispatch trucks, or set prices. Call (915) 320-5573 and Quick Tow EP will connect you with an independent local tow operator.