HOA Towing Laws in Florida: Improper Apartment and Condo Towing

Towing · Section 715.07, Florida Statutes

By Joshua Feygin, Esq. · Sue Your Dealer – A Law Firm

Florida HOA towing laws are stricter than most residents realize. If your vehicle was towed from an HOA, condominium, or rental community, section 715.07, Florida Statutes, sets the conditions the property and the tow company had to meet before the truck ever hooked your car. Sue Your Dealer is investigating incidents across Florida where vehicles have been towed from HOA, condominium, and apartment communities without proper authorization or signage. Many residents report tow trucks patrolling the property and removing vehicles on their own initiative, often for minor or administrative issues like expired registration, missing decals, or visitor parking misunderstandings.

If your vehicle was already towed under these circumstances, you may be entitled to reimbursement of towing fees, storage costs, damages, and attorney's fees. This post covers what the statute requires and what a claim looks like, or you can submit a towing case evaluation now.

What Does Florida Law Require Before a Car Can Be Towed From Private Property?

Under section 715.07, towing from private property is strictly regulated. Tow companies and property owners must comply with specific conditions before removing a vehicle. If the conditions aren't met, the tow may be improper, and the statute makes the people who caused it liable.

1. Required towing signage

Florida law requires that signs be prominently posted at each driveway access or curb cut to the property, close to the public right-of-way, stating that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense. Section 715.07 sets requirements for the sign itself, including:

• The words "Tow-Away Zone," in light-reflective lettering of a minimum height set by the statute.
• A statement, in light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, that unauthorized vehicles will be towed away at the owner's expense.
• The name and current telephone number of the towing company responsible for the property.
• Permanent installation at every vehicular entrance, so that the notice is visible to a driver entering the lot.

The statute carves out limited exceptions, for example property that is obviously part of a single-family residence. For an HOA lot, a condominium garage, or an apartment complex, the signage rule applies. If the signs were missing, obscured, faded past legibility, posted at only some entrances, or listed a tow company other than the one that took your car, the tow may have been unlawful under section 715.07, Florida Statutes.

2. Authorization for the tow

Even when proper signage exists, section 715.07 permits removal only at the direction of the property owner or lessee, or a person authorized to act for them. The property owner, HOA, or authorized representative must authorize the removal of the vehicle. Tow companies that patrol a community and hook vehicles without any request from the property are operating outside what the statute allows. Without proper authorization, both the property owner and the towing company may be jointly liable for damages.

3. Notice to law enforcement and a nearby storage lot

Section 715.07 also governs what happens the moment the truck leaves. The tow company must notify the local police department or sheriff's office within 30 minutes of completing the tow, giving the vehicle's description, the storage location, and the time it was removed. That is how you find your car when it disappears from your parking space. The vehicle must be stored within 10 miles of the property in counties with a population of 500,000 or more, and within 15 miles in smaller counties.

Who Can Authorize a Tow From an HOA or Apartment Lot?

An HOA, condominium association, or apartment landlord may hire a tow company to enforce its parking rules, but that contract does not turn the tow company into a free agent. The statute contemplates that the association or landlord, or a designated agent such as a property manager, authorizes removal. The association's own governing documents matter too: a tow for "expired registration" or a "missing decal" is only as valid as the rule behind it, and the rule must have been adopted and communicated the way the association's documents require.

Routine patrol towing is where most improper tows come from. A tow operator paid per vehicle has every incentive to find violations. When the operator is choosing targets on its own, the authorization element is in question. In our review of towing matters, we ask three questions: who called for the tow, what rule was allegedly violated, and what notice the resident had of that rule.

What Are Your Rights After the Tow?

Section 715.07 also sets requirements for how the storage lot must treat you once you show up to get your car:

• Half-price release if you arrive during the tow. If you return to your vehicle while it is being hooked but before it has been removed from the property, the tow operator must release it for no more than one-half of the posted towing rate.
• Retrieval within an hour. The storage site must be open for redemption during the business hours set by the statute, and when it is closed it must post a telephone number where someone can be reached. Once you call, section 715.07 requires the operator to return to the storage site within one hour to release the vehicle.
• Personal property. You have the right to inspect the vehicle and remove your personal belongings. A lot that refuses to let you retrieve your wallet, medication, child seat, or work tools until you pay the full bill can be violating the statute.
• Fee limits. Many Florida counties and municipalities set maximum rates for non-consensual tows and storage under their home-rule authority (sections 125.0103 and 166.043, Florida Statutes); Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach publish rate schedules. A charge above the local maximum, or a "gate fee" or "administrative fee" the schedule doesn't allow, can be an overcharge the law allows you to recover.

What Can You Recover for an Improper Tow in Florida?

Section 715.07 provides the remedy directly. When a person improperly causes a vehicle to be removed, that person is liable to the vehicle's owner or lessee for the cost of removal, transportation, and storage; any damages resulting from the removal, transportation, or storage of the vehicle; attorney's fees; and court costs. "Person" reaches whoever caused the improper tow: the property owner, the association, its management company, or the tow operator. Certain violations also carry criminal penalties.

The attorney's fee provision is what makes these cases viable. A $250 tow and $60 a day in storage is not worth a lawsuit on its own; fee-shifting changes that. Where the tow company's conduct is part of a pattern, such as patrol towing an entire community without authorization, the claim may also be brought under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which independently allows actual damages and attorney's fees.

What Proves an Improper HOA Tow?

A towing claim comes down to what can be proven about the property and the paperwork. The evidence that usually decides it:

• Photographs of every entrance to the property, taken from the driveway the way a driver would see them, showing whether a tow-away sign is present, legible, and names the company that towed you.
• Your tow and storage receipts, with the itemized charges, the date and time of the tow, and the name of the company.
• The reason you were given for the tow, in writing if possible (a notice on the windshield, a text from management, an email from the HOA).
• Your community's parking rules and any notice you received of them, including the lease, the HOA or condominium rules, and any decal or registration policy.
• Communications with the property manager or HOA about the tow, including anything they said about who authorized it.
• Evidence of patrol towing, such as neighbors towed under similar circumstances or tow trucks seen circling the property without being called.
• The law-enforcement record. The local police non-emergency line can confirm whether the tow company reported the tow and when. A missing or late report can itself be a statutory violation.

Who we want to hear from

We're reviewing matters involving residents who had a vehicle towed from an HOA, condominium, or apartment complex; were told the tow was for expired registration, decals, or minor violations; observed tow trucks routinely patrolling the community without complaints being made; or found no "Tow-Away Zone" signage at the property entrances.

This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results depend on the facts and law of each matter; prospective clients may not obtain similar results. Statutory damages described are as set by law and are before deductions for attorney's fees and costs. Sue Your Dealer – A Law Firm, Hollywood, Florida · By appointment only · (954) 321-0507.