Florida towing is regulated on two levels at once: a handful of state statutes, and a patchwork of county and city ordinances that differ every time you cross a line. This guide points you at the state law and tells you what to verify locally. It is written for operators, not lawyers, and it is not legal advice.
The statutes to know
Wrecker operator systems
Governs county and municipal wrecker operator systems and the local ordinances that regulate towing and immobilizing vehicles, including rate schedules.
Read the statute on leg.state.fl.usLiens for recovering, towing or storing vehicles
The lien you hold on a vehicle you towed or stored, and the notice you must send to the owner and lienholders before you can sell it.
Read the statute on leg.state.fl.usVehicles parked on private property; towing
The trespass-tow rules: signage requirements, what the property owner must authorize, notification of law enforcement, and owner retrieval rights.
Read the statute on leg.state.fl.usMotor vehicle licenses
Registration of wreckers and commercial vehicles operating in Florida.
Read the statute on leg.state.fl.usConsent vs. non-consent
Almost every rule that bites you depends on this distinction. A consent tow is one the vehicle owner requested. A non-consent tow — trespass tows under s. 715.07 and law-enforcement-directed tows — carries local rate caps, notification duties and storage rules that consent tows generally do not.
The trade-off: on a consent tow, your paperwork is your only protection. Nobody set a rate for you, so what the customer signed is the whole agreement.
Local rules you have to check yourself
No website can tell you these accurately, because they change by ordinance. Before you work a new jurisdiction, confirm:
- Whether the county or city requires a tow permit, decal or sticker on the truck.
- The published maximum non-consent rates for that jurisdiction.
- Storage facility requirements — location, hours, access for owners retrieving vehicles.
- How quickly you must notify law enforcement after a trespass tow.
- Whether you must be on a rotation or wrecker operator system list to take police calls.
Markings and identification
Your company name and USDOT number belong on the truck and on the paperwork you hand the customer. When a trooper stops your driver, being able to produce a document that already shows the company, the USDOT number, the unit, the driver and a customer signature turns a long conversation into a short one.
Records worth keeping
- Signed authorization for every tow, with date and time.
- Photos at pickup and at drop-off, timestamped.
- VIN captured accurately — a wrong VIN can invalidate a lien notice.
- Which truck and which driver ran the call.
- What you charged, so your monthly and yearly numbers hold up at tax time.
EzTowForm captures all of that on one record and prints it on an English PDF, whether your driver uses the app in English or Spanish.
This page summarizes publicly available Florida statutes for general information and links to the official text so you can verify it. Statutes are amended regularly and local ordinances vary. This is not legal advice — consult a Florida attorney or your local licensing authority for your situation.