Private Property Towing Laws in Minnesota

Overview of Minnesota’s Towing Laws

In Minnesota, the framework for private property towing is based on a set of statutory laws designed to ensure due process protection for vehicle owners while also establishing the scope of liability for the property owners who seek such tows. Private property owner rights pertaining to towing are set forth in Minnesota Statute Section 168B.01 et seq. Generally, when a vehicle is towed from private property in Minnesota the towing company must follow a set of protocols as mandated by the statute.
Further , part of the statutory scheme introduced a process for notifying a vehicle owner that his or her vehicle is being held by an impound lot. The Statute requires that the towing service send a letter to the vehicle owner within 10 days from the date of removal. This letter must include the following information:
The legislature has also passed strict liability statutes pertaining to the improper enforcement of Minnesota’s towing laws by the towing companies themselves. Towing companies can be sued for damages as a result of noncompliance with the Statute and the rules that have been promulgated pursuant to the statute.

Towing Regulations Concerning Private Property

In the case of private property, the property over which the incident takes place must be privately owned or operated. Common examples of these are malls or shopping centers, schools, banks, state and local government properties, non-profit facilities, and businesses.
In most cases, the owner of the property must permit the towing and the towing must be justified based on all the surrounding facts and circumstances. Under the law, the property owner must give permission in writing to the tow truck operator which must also contain the location of the threatened unlawful activity, the license plate number, make, model, and color of the vehicle being towed, and a description of the property from which the vehicle is being towed. A copy of this written permission must be kept on file by the towing company for three years.

Vehicle Owner Rights

Vehicle owners have specific rights to protect them when their vehicles are towed from private property. The most significant of these is the requirement for all owners to be notified when vehicles are in fact towed. Directions could be left on the dashboard or other visible area, detailing how to retrieve the vehicle. Police may broadcast alert without any prior notification, but no vehicle may be towed unless signage is placed in the parking lot or area notifying and warning vehicle owners that towing may occur and providing the name and telephone number of the person or business entitled to the possession of the vehicle.
No vehicle, therefore, may be removed for the purpose of parking violations where signs have not been posted giving the proper warning. This is particularly important when overnight parking is allowed and there are no signs posted restricting its use. Notification is given either by sign or separate notification left on the dashboard of the offending vehicle. If it is impossible to notify the owners of the vehicles, then police and public service officials are permitted to broadcast an alert. Police are not permitted to call in the tow truck and keep the driver waiting while they locate the owner of the vehicle. Property owners, police or public officials may request towing action. Exempts from the notification process are drivers who are stopped by the police for traffic violation, suspected intoxication, or other violations. They are presumed to know their vehicle was towed and where it can be found. Vehicles are exempt also where the property owner requests that the vehicle be towed directly from the left lane of a busy street or highway.
Persons authorized to tow vehicles must explain the methods for retrieval of the vehicle, the costs involved, and the forms of the payment to be accepted. Persons who have their vehicles pounded face a lengthy rebuilding process and the obligation to pay the storage costs. Because these costs may be prohibitive, owners should understand their rights to challenge the seizure. It should be noted, however, that before the vehicle may be released, persons responsible for such matters may require a written certification that the vehicle is registered to the owner or that the owner has been lawfully permitted by the vehicle’s registered owner to utilize it. These storage fees may accumulate at the rate of fifty dollars daily and the owner will incur liability for these fees where the vehicle is impounded for more than one hour.
In Minnesota, there is a provision permitting the automobile seller to repossess the vehicle where the vehicle has been towed for default on the purchase agreement. To be enforceable, the contract must comply with statutory provisions. These provisions require that the necessary terms and conditions be clearly set forth in the revocation clause of the contract. Once a vehicle has been repossessed, however, the seller may not demand removal of the vehicle where there is no pending court action for the default or violation of the contract.
A vehicle owner who is denied the right to go into the car and take out personal belongings, such as clothing, is entitled to an immediate refund of the entire towing charge. Attention should be given also to the conditions under which the vehicle may be released. These requirements apply equally to fees charged by the parking lot owner for pick up of the vehicle where personal effects are still in the vehicle.

Responsibilities of Towing Companies

Responsible to Tow: The Responsibilities of Towing Companies Under Minnesota Law
Minnesota’s new private property towing law requires that all licensed towing companies provide their employees with training regarding the laws and the company’s policies. Training must include:
•Safe practices in the operation of a tow truck;
•Safe operating procedures in relation to the property of others, including loading and securing loads in a way that does not damage the vehicle or other property;
•Safe methods for billing customers and returning property;
•The prohibition on the use of abusive towing or storage practices or in soliciting business;
•The prohibition against trespassing to tow any vehicle or property;
•In what situations and how to contact local law enforcement;
•Information about properly defending a tow action in small claims court; and
•The requirement that any written record made by the towing company be legible and understandable .
The new law has clear and enforceable requirements for towing companies. It provides that tow companies are liable for violations committed by their employees. And, it makes clear that it is improper for two or more towing companies to conspire to fix the rates for private tow releases or storage.

Common Issues and Resolutions

Disputes involving private property towing in Minnesota can be complex and often involve multiple parties, including the car owner, the towing company, property manager, landowner and sometimes even law enforcement. Some common scenarios involved in these disputes are:
With respect to disputes involving the vehicle owner, the burden is generally on the vehicle owner to establish that a private property tow was unlawful. For example, if a vehicle owner contacts us and tells us that they were in fact parked in a handicapped space at the time of the tow, there is not any lawsuit we can pursue on the client’s behalf. However, this is not the case if the retired state trooper, who owns the property he lives on (and also an extra vehicle parked on the property), establishes a practice of calling a towing company whenever he sees any vehicle parked on his property. If the Trooper’s son-in-law, the Property Manager, also sometimes parks his truck on his father-in-law’s property without obtaining permission from his father who lives there, the car owner has a viable claim under Minnesota law.
As a general matter, the private property owner is always liable for unlawful towing activity by its agent acting on its behalf. That is, if an employee of the Property Management company calls the towing company and provides all of the correct information, the land owner is liable for the towing charge even if there was a mistake in the information given to the towing company, provided that the error was due to a lack of expressed policies in place to enforce the no parking policy on a consistent basis. Thus, if the policy states do not park anywhere except for designated areas, the land owner cannot call the towing company and authorize a parking area (that is not allowed by the policy) without first amending the policy to allow for such parking.
We have even had issues arise where the Property Management Company, "changes the past" by going back to a particular location and removing the vehicle that was parked without permission after the landowner found out that the property manager did not go through the proper procedures to report it as a violation. In one case, the Owner had authorized the Manager to call the towing company because he lived on the property, but when we asked him whether he explicitly authorized the property manager to act in his stead, the answer was no. At that point, the Manager had no more authority to call the towing company because he had already misled the Owner into believing that he had the authority to act, when indeed he did not have that in writing. The Owner agreed to sign a document that confirmed the lack of authority and resulted in an immediate release of the automobile by the towing company without ever having to go to court.
Of course, if the property owner or property manager both complained and the towing company released the vehicle then the issue would be settled. However, sometimes – but not often – the towing company refuses to release the vehicle. This happens more often in other states, but rarely in Minnesota. In that situation, the best option is to go in the next morning and pay the fee, import the receipt, and preserve your rights to contest the legality of the tow after-the-fact. The statute gives you 21 days to request a hearing. If you win the hearing, meaning that you establish there was no violation (or no fault for the violation that was made) under Minnesota law, you will be entitled to treble (multiply by three) damages from the towing company and the land owner/property manager.

Recent Amendments and Legal Interpretations

In May 2017, the Minnesota Senate passed S.F. 882, a bill aimed at regulating the lucrative motor vehicle towing industry. However, the bill has stalled in the House (H.F. No. 1045).
S.F. 882 sought to amend a number of existing statutes relating to towing and related activities, including the Motor Vehicle Storage Facility Act; Impoundment of Motor Vehicles; and Towing, Immobilization, and Removal of Motor Vehicles on Private Property.
While the bill may have had broad support, it generated a good deal of pushback from the towing industry, which argued that S.F. 882 would make it cost prohibitive to do business within Minnesota.
The bill contained numerous changes impacting what vehicle storage facility owners or operators, vehicles impound lot owners or operators, and private property owners must do to comply with Minnesota law:
The bill expanded the definition of "new WMOR vehicle storage facility" to require not only the appointment of a licensed WMOR vehicle storage facility, but also the completion of a state-sanctioned online training program. Currently, "new WMOR vehicles storage facility" refers to a property or structure where vehicles are stored or impounded and the operators of the property or structure are not the same individuals as the owners of the motor vehicles. The term is used in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B, in governing state authorized towing and storage.
The bill expanded the definition of "unsecured drop storage" to an unsecured parking lot principal of which is to accommodate drop storage without access control, bylaws or signage for drop storage participants .
The bill instead defined "secure drop storage" as an isolated area on property that a WMOR vehicle storage facility operator designates for securing a motor vehicle left unattended for more than five minutes after displaying a sign in full view of the driver that informs a driver about the requirement for keeping all doors closed and all windows securely shut and the requirement for setting the parking brake and placing the gear selector in park or reverse. By adding that language the bill appears to codify certain security measures that have become the de facto standard among storage lots and impound facilities in Minnesota.
The bill expanded the definition of "vehicle immobilization" to apply when a license plate receipt issued to a vehicle owner or operator is displayed in an unfinished manner and also defined "immobilization device" as a device approved by the Commissioner of Public Safety to immobilize a vehicle. Immobility devices generally consist of a thick, rubberized skin covering a clutch lock. These devices lock around the shifter to prevent the driver from putting the transmission in gear. The bill also addressed the question of driver removal of a vehicle affixed with an immobilization device.
The bill revised the definition of "vehicle immobilization service" to mean a person who provides immobilization services for 10 or more times in a 12-month period and also implemented criminal penalties for violations of the private property provisions of this bill.
The bill also addressed other issues under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B that are typically more related to an unauthorized tow and assemblage of vehicles in a facility.