Private Property
Private Property Towing for Property Managers
If you manage a lot, a complex or a business with limited parking, the time to set this up is before the problem, not during it. Call us and we will walk through what Oregon requires and what a working arrangement looks like.
This is a paperwork job as much as a towing job
Private property towing in Oregon carries signage, notice and record-keeping requirements, and they exist to protect vehicle owners from exactly the abuses that give the industry a bad name. We would rather do it correctly and slowly than fast and wrong. Getting the signage right at the start is what keeps everyone out of trouble later.
Who this is for
Apartment and multifamily property managers, retail and restaurant lots with customer-only parking, small business lots, HOA common areas, and construction sites with access that has to stay clear.
How to start
Call during office hours rather than in the middle of the night. We will talk through your property, your current signage, and what an arrangement would look like. If we are not the right fit for your property we will say so.
Where we provide private property towing
We are based at 21158 OR-99E in Aurora, OR, and we cover twenty five towns across the Willamette Valley and the south Portland metro, plus part of Clark County in Washington. The closest and busiest are Aurora, Canby, Woodburn, Wilsonville, Hubbard, Newberg. If your town is not on the service area list, call anyway and we will tell you honestly whether we can get to you.
What has to be in place before we can tow
Oregon puts the notice requirement on the property, not on the driver. Before a vehicle can be towed from a private lot, the property has to be signed in a way that gives a reasonable person notice, and the sign has to carry the name and 24-hour phone number of the company doing the towing. Miss that and a tow that felt completely justified turns into a dispute you lose.
The statute does not print a ruler measurement, but this is what we see hold up:
- A sign at every vehicular entrance. Missing one side entrance is the single most common reason a private property tow gets reversed.
- Along a long commercial frontage, additional signs at intervals rather than one sign at the corner.
- Wording that says the property is private, that parking is restricted or by permit only, and that violators are towed at the vehicle owner’s expense.
- Our company name and our 24-hour number on the sign, plus a reference to ORS 98.812.
- Mounted high enough and reflective enough to be readable at night, because that is when most of these tows happen.
The tow itself has to be authorized by the property owner or someone the owner has put in writing as an agent — a manager, a management company, a designated employee. A tenant who is annoyed about someone in their space is not an authorizing party unless you have set them up as one.
After the vehicle is in storage, we notify local law enforcement within one hour. That is our job, not yours. It is also what makes the vehicle findable, so the owner calls us instead of reporting the car stolen.
This is how the work runs in practice, not legal advice. If you are writing a parking policy from scratch, run the final version past your own attorney.
Patrol agreement or call-by-call
There are two ways property managers use us, and they suit different problems.
Call-by-call works when the problem is occasional: an abandoned car in a fire lane, someone parked across a dumpster on collection day, a vehicle that has not moved in three weeks. You call, you authorize that specific vehicle, we tow it.
A patrol agreement works when the problem is constant — a lot next to a bar, an apartment complex where residents cannot park because of overflow from somewhere else. We agree the rules in writing up front, get the signage right, and enforce on a schedule instead of you making a phone call every time. It is calmer for everyone, and it holds up better if a tow is ever challenged.
What the vehicle owner does next
People are angrier at the tow company than at the property, and we would rather absorb that than have your office deal with it. When someone calls us about a vehicle we removed from your lot, we tell them where it is, what it costs and what they need to bring. Storage charges are limited by statute if we have not given the owner proper notice, so getting the paperwork right on day one protects everyone, you included.
FAQ
Private Property Towing: common questions
Can you tow a car off my property today?
Not without the correct arrangement and signage in place. Call and we will explain what has to be true first.
Do you handle the vehicle owner notification?
We will walk you through what is required and who is responsible for what. Ask about this on the first call.
Is there a cost to set up an account?
Call and ask. Setup is a conversation, not a form.
Do I need a sign at every entrance, or is one enough?
Every vehicular entrance. If a driver can get onto the lot without passing a sign, the notice requirement has not been met for that driver, and that is the argument that gets tows reversed. If your frontage is long, you want more than one along it as well.
Can a tenant or an employee authorize a tow?
Only if the property owner has designated them in writing as an authorized agent. We will help you set that up so the person on site at 11pm can act without calling you at home, but it needs to exist on paper before the first tow, not after a dispute.
What happens if the owner turns up while the truck is still hooking up?
In most situations they get the vehicle back on the spot for a reduced drop fee rather than a full tow and storage. We would rather do that than create an enemy in your parking lot. Tell us up front how you want these handled and we will follow it consistently.
How quickly can you come out?
Dispatch runs 24 hours a day. Private property calls are not emergencies in the way a crash on 99E is, so we work them around live roadside calls, but you get a realistic window on the phone and we come back to you if it moves.
Need private property towing?
One call gets you a real person, a straight price and a truck on the way.