Financial Fraud / Consumer Protection
Towing
Beginning January 1, 2008, a tower will provide you with certain information if your vehicle is towed. This information can be provided by signs at a parking lot, on a sheet of paper handed to you, or, if you are not present at the time of the tow, by mail. (There are certain exceptions for when you do not need to be given this information, such as if your vehicle was an abandoned vehicle towed on behalf of the police or your insurance company is paying for the tow.) A tower must give you:
- A list of prices the tower charges;
- The location where the tower is towing the vehicle;
- The tower's contact information, including phone number; and
- The methods of payment the tower accepts, such as cash or credit card.
If the tower accepts cash, you will get exact change no later than the end of the next business day. (Not all towers carry sufficient change in their trucks.)
If you are present at the time of the tow and the hookup is not complete, the tower must release the vehicle at no charge. If the hookup is complete, the tower may only charge a hookup fee.
If a tower is storing your vehicle for more than 24 hours, the tower must take an inventory of all personal property in the vehicle that can be seen through the windows and must make sure that the property is securely stored.
The tower must allow you to redeem the vehicle between 8 am and 6 pm Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, at other hours within 60 minutes after asking the tower to release the vehicle, and within 30 minutes of a time mutually agreed upon. You can obtain all personal property of an emergency nature (i.e. prescription medication, eyeglasses, identification, wallet, purse, credit card, child safety seat, etc.) in the vehicle within the same time frames. If you are not redeeming the vehicle when you get the personal property of an emergency nature out of the vehicle, the only fee a tower may charge you is a gate fee during non-business hours.
When you redeem your vehicle, or get personal property of an emergency nature out of the vehicle, you cannot be required to give up certain rights, such as agreeing not to dispute the reason for the tow, the validity or amount of the charges, or the responsibility of the tower for the condition of the vehicle or personal property in the vehicle.
A tower may not monitor a parking lot unless there are signs posted in the lot that tell you what hours monitoring will occur. The tower also has to take a picture of your vehicle to show how it was parked in violation of a parking prohibition posted on a sign at a parking lot. Additionally, unless the tower is towing your vehicle for a motor vehicle road service company (such as AAA), a tower may not attempt to solicit your business at the scene of an accident.
There are some different rules if your vehicle is parked at an apartment complex rather than a parking lot for a business. Some of these rules depend on how many parking spaces are at the apartment complex and if residents have assigned parking spaces.
Applicable State Law
- ORS 98.850 to 98.864
- For landlord/tenant, ORS 90.485
