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(a) Storage of towed vehicles. A towing company must immediately deliver a towed vehicle directly to a storage site that complies with the following conditions:
(1) A storage site must not be more than 15 miles from the origin of the tow. Every storage site must be located in Montgomery County, unless the nearest storage site is within one mile of the County line.
(2) A storage site must be brightly lit at all times.
(3) A towed vehicle must not be stored more than a reasonable walking distance from a redemption area.
(4) The towed vehicle and its contents must be kept secured at all times.
(5) The storage site must remain open and have personnel on-site for redemption of vehicles 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
(6) The storage site must be identified by a sign at the entrance indicating the name and telephone number of the tow service.
(b) Payment and promise to pay.
(1) Cash payment. A trespass towing company must accept payment in cash, or by a traveler’s check accompanied by reasonable identification.
(2) Credit card payment. Each trespass towing company must accept the two most widely used major credit cards. The Office must define, in regulations under method (2), which major credit cards are the two most widely used.
(3) Withholding payment. If:
(A) the vehicle owner withholds payment in a credit card transaction with a towing service under this Chapter; and
(B) a court in any subsequent civil action finds that the tow was valid and the amount charged was correct;
the vehicle owner must pay the towing company, in addition to the amount validly charged, liquidated damages of two times the amount validly charged (but not more than $1,000.00) and all reasonable costs of collection, including court costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee.
(4) Applicability. This subsection applies to payment of any charge arising from the towing or storage of a vehicle without the owner’s consent, and to payment for an incomplete tow under Section 30C-8.
(5) Purpose. This subsection and Section 30C-8 do not create or imply a lien in favor of a towing company when such a lien would not otherwise exist. This subsection and Section 30C-8 do not give a towing company a right to retain possession of any vehicle it would otherwise have to return to the vehicle owner.
(c) Rates displayed. Every trespass towing company must display prominently, at each redemption area, a copy of its current rates and a statement that these rates do not exceed the rates filed with the Office. Every trespass towing company must also display prominently a sign, furnished at a reasonable fee by the Office, listing the Office’s telephone number and summarizing the vehicle owner’s rights under this Chapter.
(d) Storage fee. A trespass towing company must not charge a storage fee for any time before the vehicle actually reaches the storage site.
(e) Receipt. Upon receiving payment, a towing company must furnish the vehicle owner a receipt on a form approved by the Office. The receipt must:
(1) record the amount paid to redeem the vehicle, the actions for which the vehicle owner paid, and the date and time of the redemption;
(2) be signed legibly by an agent of the towing company, and list the name, address and telephone number of the towing company;
(3) identify the violation or event that precipitated the towing of the vehicle;
(4) include photographic evidence of the violation required under subsection 30C-5(c)(9); and
(5) briefly inform the vehicle owner that the Office can explain the vehicle owner’s rights and how to enforce them in small claims court or another appropriate forum if the vehicle owner believes that any provision of County law has been violated, and that the owner may obtain a copy of the law from the Office.
(f) Damage waiver. A trespass towing company must not require a vehicle owner to sign any waiver of the owner’s right to receive compensation for damages to the vehicle.
(g) Inspection and retrieval of personal property. A storage site that is in the possession of a towed vehicle shall make the vehicle available, without charge, to the owner, the owner’s agent, a secured party, or the insurer of record, under the supervision of the storage site, for:
(1) inspection; or
(2) retrieval from the vehicle of personal property that is not attached to the vehicle. (1988 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 7, § 1.)
Editor’s note—2005 L.M.C., ch. 26, §§ 2 and 3, state:
Sec. 2. Regulations. A regulation which implements a function transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection by this Act continues in effect until otherwise amended or repealed, but any reference to any predecessor department or office must be treated as referring to the Office of Consumer Protection.
Sec. 3. Transition. This act does not invalidate or affect any action taken by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs before this Act took effect. Any responsibility or right granted by law, regulation, contract, or other document, and which is associated with a function transferred by this Act from the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, is transferred to the Office of Consumer Protection.
(a) Any trespass towing company, and any private property owner who authorizes, expressly or under a standing authorization, the towing of a vehicle from private property, are liable for violation of any duty imposed on the company or owner by this Chapter with regard to:
(1) any towing of a vehicle that does not comply with this Chapter;
(2) any towing of a vehicle in the mistaken belief that the vehicle was not authorized to park in the place from which it was towed; and
(3) any damages to a towed vehicle incurred during the tow or storage and caused by a lack of reasonable care by the towing company, the property owner or an agent of either.
(b) A property owner is not liable for the towing of a vehicle if the property owner did not expressly authorize the towing, and does not otherwise have a business relationship with the towing company.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b), a property owner and a towing company are jointly and severally liable for the violation of any duty imposed by this Chapter on the towing company, with a right of contribution or indemnification.
(d) A vehicle owner must mitigate any damages recoverable under this Chapter.
(e) Damages payable under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) are three times the amount of any towing, release or storage fees charged. (1988 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
A towing company must not pay or offer to pay a property owner, and a property owner must not accept payment, for authorizing the towing of a vehicle from any private property. (1988 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 2; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
(a) The Office of Consumer Protection and the Montgomery County Police Department enforce this Chapter.
(b) A police officer or Office of Consumer Protection investigator may order a towing company to release a vehicle, or to stop attaching a vehicle, at any time to prevent a breach of the peace or if the investigator or officer has reasonable cause to believe that the tow would be or was unlawful.
(c) The Office may issue subpoenas to compel the production of documents, papers, books, records, and other evidence relevant to the investigation of a complaint filed with the Office in any matter to which this Chapter applies.
(1) If any person does not comply with any subpoena issued under this Chapter, the County may enforce the subpoena by appropriate legal action.
(2) Any court with jurisdiction may grant injunctive or other appropriate relief to enforce a subpoena.
(3) A person must comply with any subpoena issued under this Chapter.
(d) Any violation of this Chapter is a Class A violation. The maximum civil fine is $500 for a first offense, and $1,000 for subsequent offenses. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)
(a) Applicability. A person must not immobilize a motor vehicle owned by another person on private property, without the consent of the vehicle owner.
(b) Civil remedy. Any person whose vehicle has been unlawfully immobilized, unlawfully held after being lawfully immobilized, or damaged while immobilized, may recover from the owner of the property or any other person responsible for immobilizing the vehicle, in a civil action, the greater of:
(1) all actual damages sustained; or
(2) liquidated damages of $100.
This remedy does not replace or limit any other remedy available by law. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 1; 1997 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 1.)