{"id":1564,"date":"2022-04-27T17:40:40","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T21:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/getting-hook-predatory-tow-part-ii\/"},"modified":"2022-04-27T17:40:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T21:40:40","slug":"getting-hook-predatory-tow-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/getting-hook-predatory-tow-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Off the Hook of a Predatory Tow Part II"},"featured_media":42770,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[157],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"resource_type":[64],"region_tax":[],"state":[13],"topic_tax":[124],"class_list":["post-1564","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[124],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":64,"event_type":false,"campaigns":157,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[13],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":124}},"subtitle":"New analysis of towing laws shows only 16 states ban kickbacks to property owners or law enforcement","excerpt":"New analysis of towing laws shows only 16 states ban kickbacks to property owners or law enforcement","featured_image":42770,"caption_override":"","updated_on":null,"sidebar_action":null,"related_event":null,"hide_hero_image":false,"location":"","external_link":{"publication_name":"","url":""},"file":null,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"helper_downloads":{"title":"Downloads","files":[{"file":100000000042771,"title":"GA PDF TOWING II"}]},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Driving is a staple of American living. In 2020, there were more than 275 million\u00a0registered vehicles<\/a>\u00a0in the United States. An issue that many drivers face or may be worried about is having their vehicle towed. If you ask around in your small circle, someone inevitably has a towing story.<\/p>\n

Prior to the pandemic,\u00a0millions of Americans<\/a>\u00a0had their vehicles towed involuntarily every year. Reasons range from unpaid tickets to expired registration to improper parking on private property. There are many ways to stop predatory towing or abusive practices that sometimes occur with legitimate tows, and laws vary widely nationwide.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0May 2021 report<\/a>\u00a0by U.S. PIRG Education Fund, we compared the statuses of 14 common sense towing protections in each state. In some cases, few protections are guaranteed by law. For instance, 37 states mandate that towing companies notify the owner\/driver when their car gets towed, making it the most popular protection nationwide. Some states mandate notifying law enforcement within an hour. In some states, the notification is allowed to be mailed to the owner \u2013 within seven days. Only 14 states require towing companies to clearly display their rates. And only four states require pictures of the vehicle before it\u2019s towed.<\/p>\n

Since the last report, the towing law landscape has begun to change, with lawmakers around the country either pondering or passing new towing protections for consumers. Major cities such as\u00a0Detroit<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Memphis<\/a>\u00a0recently approved new laws to protect drivers from predatory towing or abusive practices. While no states have yet approved new towing laws in the last year, legislators in Colorado now want to\u00a0take on predatory towing<\/a>\u00a0in a big way. Other states are interested in new protections as well, according to the\u00a0National Conference of State Legislatures.\u00a0Meanwhile, more municipalities are looking at adopting more protections against predatory towing. This report looks at recent changes and what else may be coming. We also look at an emerging issue: kickbacks sometimes paid when vehicles are towed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Laws banning kickback payments for private property tows is a common sense protection, like many of the others. These kickback payments occur when a property owner or law enforcement officer gets some type payment or other consideration from a towing company for getting a car towed from the property. Some laws also ban towing companies getting extra payments for a tow, but we didn\u2019t consider that as part of kickback laws. Only 16 states ban kickbacks in some way for private property towing. Some laws are more comprehensive than others.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, towing is on the rise. The industry is expected to take in $11.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 10% from 2020,\u00a0according to IBISWorld<\/a>, which conducts research on thousands of industries worldwide. That does include both consensual tows, after a breakdown or wreck, and non-consensual tows, for allegedly leaving your vehicle someplace you shouldn\u2019t. IBISWorld did note that wrecks are decreasing as newer cars typically come with more safety features, such automatic braking systems and lane-change alerts, so the industry growth is expected to come from non-consensual tows.<\/p><\/body><\/html>","":null}}],"site_specific_content":""},"yoast_head":"\nGetting Off the Hook of a Predatory Tow Part II<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New analysis of towing laws shows only 16 states ban kickbacks to property owners or law enforcement\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.pirg-test.com\/georgia\/edfund\/resources\/getting-hook-predatory-tow-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Getting Off the Hook of a Predatory Tow Part II\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New 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