Florida · Compliance guide
Towing a guest’s car in Florida: a property manager’s guide to avoiding wrongful tows
Florida lets apartment owners tow unauthorized vehicles, but only on the statute’s terms. Here is what section 715.07 requires of the property, what it requires of your towing company, and the habits that keep a guest’s car from being towed by mistake.
The short answer
Florida Statute 715.07 lets a property owner, a lessee or someone they authorize have an unauthorized vehicle towed from private property, but only with substantial compliance with its conditions: compliant tow away signs at every entrance unless notice was given in person, and a towing company that follows the statute’s storage, police notice and release rules. Anyone who improperly causes a vehicle to be removed is liable for the removal and storage costs, damages, attorney’s fees and court costs. At an apartment community the avoidable risk is towing a guest who was in fact allowed to be there, so verify every plate before you authorize a tow.
Not legal adviceThis guide summarizes the 2026 Florida Statutes as published by the Florida Legislature. It is general information, not legal advice. Counties and cities can add their own rules, and statutes change. Confirm the current text and your local ordinance with your attorney before relying on it.
Who can authorize a tow
Section 715.07(2) allows the owner or lessee of real property, or any person they authorize, to have a vehicle parked without permission removed by a person regularly engaged in the business of towing. For a condominium, the authorized person may be the association’s designated representative. Done right, the property is not liable for the costs of removal, transportation or storage, or for damage caused by them.
The important words come next. A tow without the vehicle owner’s consent is subject to substantial compliance with the conditions in paragraph (2)(a). A few of those conditions are the property’s job. Most belong to the towing company. Both matter to you, because a disputed tow almost always reaches the leasing office first.
The sign requirements, line by line
Unless an exception applies, the property must post a notice that meets every one of these requirements before towing. They come from section 715.07(2)(a)5.
Tow sign checklist
- Placement. Prominently placed at each driveway access or curb cut that lets vehicles into the property, within 10 feet of the road. Road is defined in section 334.03(22).
- No curbs or barriers? Then at least one sign for each 25 feet of lot frontage.
- Message. States that unauthorized vehicles will be towed away at the owner’s expense, in light reflective letters at least 2 inches high on a contrasting background.
- Tow away zone. Includes the words tow away zone, hyphenated in the statute, in letters at least 4 inches high.
- Who tows. Shows the name and current telephone number of the towing company.
- Height. Permanently installed, with the tow away zone words at least 3 feet and no more than 6 feet above ground level.
- Timing. Continuously maintained on the property for at least 24 hours before any vehicle is towed.
- Local permits. Your local government may require permitting and inspection of the signs before towing is authorized.
Walk every entrance with this list once a quarter. Signs get hit by trucks, faded by sun and hidden by landscaping. If you change towing partners, the new name and number go up before the first tow.
When a sign is not required
Section 715.07(2)(a)5 lists situations that do not need the posted notice:
- Property appurtenant to and obviously part of a single family residence. An apartment community does not fit this.
- When notice is given in person to the owner or person in control of the vehicle that the area is reserved or unavailable, and that the vehicle may be removed at the owner’s or operator’s expense.
- A business owner or lessee may authorize removal of a vehicle parked in a way that restricts the normal operation of business.
- A vehicle on a public right of way that blocks access to a private driveway may be removed if the owner, lessee or agent signs an order for its removal.
Do not lean on personal notice instead of signs. A guest arriving after dark has not met your staff or signed your lease. Signs are the notice that reaches everyone.
What your towing company must do
These duties fall on the person or firm doing the towing, and several carry criminal penalties under section 715.07(5). Choose a partner who follows them, because their mistakes become your residents’ complaints.
| Duty | What the statute requires | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Storage distance | Stored within 10 miles of the point of removal in a county of 500,000 people or more, or 15 miles in a smaller county. If no towing business is located within that area, 20 and 30 miles. | (2)(a)1 |
| Storage hours | Open for redemption from 8 AM to 6 PM on any day the company tows. When closed, a posted phone number, and the operator back at the site within 1 hour of a call. | (2)(a)1 |
| Police notice | Within 30 minutes of the tow, notify the city police or, in an unincorporated area, the sheriff: storage site, time, make, model, color and plate. Note the name of the person who took the report on the trip record. | (2)(a)2 |
| Owner arrives during the tow | Stop, and return the vehicle for a service fee of no more than half the posted towing rate. Give a detailed signed receipt. | (2)(a)3 |
| Rates on record | A company that requires payment before release files its rates with local law enforcement and posts them, with its written contracts with property owners, at the storage site. | (2)(a)6 |
| Marked trucks | Company name, address and phone number on both sides of every vehicle used to tow. | (2)(a)7 |
| Release | Release within 1 hour of a request, allow inspection before acceptance, require no waiver of damage claims, and give a detailed receipt with the company’s legal name. | (2)(a)9 |
County and city rules can add more
Section 715.07(2)(b) says these requirements are minimum standards, and that any municipality or county may enact additional regulations, including regulating rates for tows from private property.
Orange County is a useful example. Its consumer guidance on trespass towing says the property or business owner must give the tow company a signed authorization, with the vehicle’s information on it, before the vehicle is towed, and that the vehicle owner may ask the tow company for a copy. The county also publishes its own rate caps and payment rules. If your community sits inside a city, check the city’s rules too, and confirm with the county or your attorney which apply.
How wrongful tows happen at apartment communities
A wrongful tow is not only one that breaks the statute. It is any tow of a car that had a right to be there. The usual causes are ordinary:
- A typo in the plate. The guest was registered, but as KTW4417 instead of KTW4471, or with the letter O where the plate has a zero.
- A pass that ended minutes ago. The guest is walking out to the car as the truck backs in.
- A registration nobody could see. The resident emailed the office, the office closed at six, and the night officer never saw it.
- A language gap. The resident did not understand the rules or the form, and believed the guest was covered.
- The wrong space. The guest parked in an ambiguous space because visitor parking was not clearly marked.
- A missing sign. A sign was down at one entrance, which leaves that entrance without the notice the statute requires.
Each of these is a records or process problem, which means each one can be designed out.
A tow protocol that catches mistakes
Adopt a written protocol, train patrol and the office on it, and do not let anyone skip a step at 2 AM.
- Check the plate against every live pass, including passes for other apartments and guest requests still waiting for approval.
- Look for near matches. If a registered plate differs by one character, or by a look alike swap such as O and 0 or B and 8, hold and verify instead of towing.
- Honor a grace period after a pass ends. Set its length in your policy and apply it every time.
- Try to reach the apartment when the car is linked to one, by text or a call.
- Photograph the car, the plate, its position and the nearest tow sign, with the time and GPS location attached.
- Record who authorized the tow, and give the towing company a signed authorization where your county or city requires one.
- Keep the towing company’s details for the tow: the storage address, the time of the tow, and confirmation of the police notice.
- Tell the resident where the car went, with the storage site and phone number, as soon as you can.
Steps 1 to 3 are where mistakes get caught. Steps 4 to 8 are what you will need if a tow is ever challenged.
Records worth keeping for every tow
| Record | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| The plate check and its time | Shows the car had no live pass when it was checked |
| Near match and grace period checks | Shows a second look happened before the tow |
| Photos with time and GPS | Shows where the car was and which signs were in view |
| The authorization and who gave it | Answers who decided, and meets local rules that require it |
| Storage site and police notice details | Lets you direct the owner quickly and confirm the tower’s duties |
| Messages to the resident | Shows you tried to resolve it before the truck arrived |
Keep them in a system that does not allow quiet edits after the fact. A record that could have been changed later carries less weight in a dispute.
How GuestPark helps, and what it cannot do
GuestPark keeps the registration record and the enforcement record in one place. The camera reads the plate when a resident registers a guest, which cuts typos, and a guest at a visitor space can ask the resident for approval. Before any tow, patrol works through a grace period, a hold when a plate is one character from a registered guest, and photos before a car is moved. Every action is stored with GPS, server time and private photos, chained by hash to the record before it, and can be exported.
Software cannot put a compliant sign at your entrance, choose an honest towing partner, or replace advice from your attorney. Use it for what it does well: knowing, at 2 AM, whether a guest was allowed to be there. Try patrol in the live demo, see a full community configuration, or read how to run guest parking without hang tags.
Questions property managers ask
- Does Florida law require tow away signs at apartment communities?
- Yes, unless an exception applies. Section 715.07(2)(a)5 requires a posted notice at each driveway access or curb cut before a vehicle is towed without the owner’s consent. The exceptions cover single family homes, notice given in person to whoever controls the vehicle, and a few business and driveway situations.
- How big do the letters on a Florida tow sign have to be?
- The main message must be in light reflective letters at least 2 inches high on a contrasting background. The words tow away zone must be at least 4 inches high, and sit between 3 and 6 feet above the ground.
- How long must a tow sign be up before a car can be towed?
- At least 24 hours, continuously, under section 715.07(2)(a)5.
- What if the owner comes back while the car is being hooked up?
- Under section 715.07(2)(a)3 the operator must stop and return the vehicle for a service fee of no more than half the posted towing rate. If the person cannot pay after a reasonable opportunity, the vehicle may be towed.
- Who pays if a car is towed wrongfully?
- Under section 715.07(4), a person who improperly causes a vehicle to be removed is liable to the vehicle’s owner or lessee for the cost of removal, transportation and storage, any resulting damages, attorney’s fees and court costs.
- Can a towing company pay us for the right to tow from our property?
- No. Section 715.07(2)(a)4 prohibits paying or accepting money or anything of value for the privilege of towing from a particular location, and subsection (5) makes it a felony of the third degree.
Sources
- Florida Statutes, section 715.07, Vehicles or vessels parked on private property; towing (2026)The Florida Legislature, Online Sunshine
- Florida Statutes, section 334.03, Definitions (2026)Definition of road, subsection (22)
- Orange County, Florida: Towing InformationConsumer guidance on trespass towing in Orange County