Chapter 16 Towing Laws

RS 32:1711

1711. Declaration of public policy. The legislature finds and declares that the towing and storage of motor vehicles in the state of Louisiana vitally affects the general economy of the state, the public interest, and the public welfare, and that in order to…

RS 32:1712

1712. Short title. This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Louisiana Towing and Storage Act”. Acts 1989, No. 522,167 1…

RS 32:1713

1713. Definitions. For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the following meaning:. 1) “Department” means the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.. 2) “Indirect compensation” means any benefit derived by the tow truck owner or operator as a result of barter, payment, or…

RS 32:1714

1714. Powers and duties of the office of state police. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police, subject to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, shall: 1) Adopt rules and regulations to govern the towing and storage industry in Louisiana..

RS 32:1715

1715. Towing of motor vehicles in the state of Louisiana. A. It shall be unlawful for any tow truck or carrier to tow or to carry a vehicle on the highways and roadways of the state of Louisiana without the towing vehicle or carrier having displayed a towing license plate and complying with the rules and…

RS 32:1716

1716. Licensing; special license plates. A. In addition to the fee charged by Title 47, each tow truck owner shall pay an annual fee of one hundred fifty dollars per tow truck, not to include those tow trucks owned by public agencies. B. The assistant secretary for the office of motor vehicles shall establish…

RS 32:1717

1717. Qualifications of licensee; proof of financial responsibility in lieu of insurance. A. A tow truck license plate shall not be issued to a tow truck owner unless:. 1) The applicant has never been convicted of a felony relating to vehicle thefts.. 2) The applicant and all drivers who operate the…

RS 32:1717.1

1717.1. Licensing; storage facility inspection; fee. A. Each towing company or storage facility which stores vehicles under the provisions of this Chapter shall pay an annual fee of one hundred dollars for a storage inspection license to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police.

RS 32:1718

1718. Law enforcement notification of a vehicle towed to a storage facility; outdoor storage facility. A. Whenever any vehicle has been towed to a storage facility where fees are charged for such storage or parking, the owner or operator of the storage facility shall, within twenty-four hours of the…

RS 32:1719

1719. Notification to Department of Public Safety and Corrections. A. Whenever any vehicle subject to registration in this state has been stored, parked, or left in a garage, or any type of public storage or parking lot, where fees are charged for storage or parking, the owner of the storage or parking facility shall…

RS 32:1720

1720. Owner notification of a stored vehicle; right to request administrative hearing

RS 32:1720.1

1720.1. Surrender of stored vehicle to lienholder

RS 32:1721

1721. Self-park storage facility notification procedure. A. If the storage garage or parking lot is of the type where vehicles are driven in and left in storage and the entrance to the facility is controlled manually or mechanically similar to parking facilities usually found at airports and railway…

RS 32:1722

1722. Exemption from provisions of R.S. 32:1718 through R.S. 32:1721. A. Except when summoned to a location by a law enforcement agency from a call allocation system, the provisions of R.S. 32:1718 through R.S. 32:1721 shall not apply where the owner of the vehicle or the legal representative of the owner…

RS 32:1723

1723. Maintenance of records. The owner of the place of business shall maintain adequate records on storage of all vehicles, describing the vehicle, the date brought into storage, and the name of the person and/or department authorizing such storage. These records and any vehicle remaining in storage…

RS 32:1724

1724. Administrative penalties. A. Any person who fails to comply with any provision required by this Chapter shall forfeit all claims for towing services and storage of such vehicles and shall be subject to an administrative fine. Each day’s failure to make such a report as required hereunder shall…

RS 32:1725

1725. Criminal penalties. Any violation of this Chapter shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Acts 1989, No. 522,167 1…

RS 32:1726

1726. Abandoned automobiles; stored or in possession of dealer or repairman; right to sell; procedure. A. Whenever any vehicle of a type subject to registration in this state has been stored or left in possession of a motor vehicle dealer or repairman for repair or otherwise and the same has not been…

RS 32:1727

1727. Hearings. A. The owner of any vehicle that was stored by a public agency shall have the right to an administrative hearing to determine if towing and storage of said vehicle was proper. The owner of the vehicle must make a request for a hearing within ten days of the date that the owner notification…

RS 32:1728

1728. Disposal of a stored motor vehicle. A. After forty-five days from the original date of storage or adjusted storage date, if applicable, the storage or parking facility owner shall send a final notice which shall comply with the notice requirements of R.S. 32:1720(B)1) through (7) to the stored vehicle’s owner.

RS 32:1728.2

1728.2. Procedure for disposal of junk vehicles

RS 32:1728.3

1728.3. Procedure for disposal of certain vehicles deemed abandoned by municipality or parish. A. This Section provides a procedure for disposing of certain vehicles. The procedure provided for in this Section shall be an alternative to the procedures set forth in R.S. 32:1728, 1728.2, and 1728.4. When a…

RS 32:1728.4

1728.4. Procedure for disposal of vehicles with no record of ownership; out- of-country vehicles. A. After complying with the provisions of R.S. 32:1719(A) if the department or its authorized agent cannot obtain owner information on a stored vehicle, the department or its authorized agent shall…

RS 32:1729

1729. Waiver of fee; disposal of law enforcement storage. After complying with the provisions of this Chapter, a tow truck owner or operator may obtain from the department, without the payment of fees otherwise required by R.S. 32:728, a permit to sell or permit to dismantle in order to dispose of a vehicle…

RS 32:1730

1730. Proceeds of sale; disposition of. All funds received from the sale of a vehicle under this Chapter shall be set aside into separate accounts by the person making the sale and he shall deduct there from the full amount due and owing him for the storage and other charges, which shall be at the…

RS 32:1731

1731. The Louisiana Towing and Storage Fund. All fees and fines collected under the provisions of this Chapter shall be paid into the state treasury on or before the twenty-fifth day of the month following their collection and, in accordance with Article VII, Section 9 of the Constitution of Louisiana, shall…

RS 32:1732

1732. Third party surcharges. Whenever a motor vehicle is towed to a location other than a facility owned and operated by the tow company,the surcharge levied by the third party receiving the motor vehicle shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the amount charged for the initial tow of the vehicle…

RS 32:1733

1733. Fees charged for towing; certain parishes. A. When, in parishes with a population of four hundred thousand or more, an individual parks a vehicle on private property and the owner or lessee of that property requests a towing company to remove and store the parked vehicle, the fee charged by…

RS 32:1734

1734. Gate fees; other fees; excessive charges; prohibitions; cause of action. A. A towing or storage company that assesses gate fees shall not assess such fee in an amount in excess of forty-five dollars. B. If the towing or storage company charges a gate fee in excess of forty-five dollars, the owner of…

RS 32:1735

1735. Driver’s selection of licensed tow company; law enforcement rotation list; minimum requirements; removal from rotation list. A. When a law enforcement officer determines that a motor vehicle must be towed, the law enforcement officer shall give the owner or operator of the motor vehicle…

RS 32:1736

1736. Towing of motor vehicles from private property; definitions; billing invoices; uniform fees; penalties. A. For purposes of this Section, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: 1) “Authorized representative” shall mean an individual a…