Charleston, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Article XIII of Chapter 19, added by Ordinance No. 1997-116 in 1997, opens with council findings that vehicle owners are 'at the complete mercy of the tow truck operators' when towed without consent, subjected to price gouging and confusing pickup logistics. Section 19-396 requires any towing carrier performing nonconsensual tows to obtain a permit before operating in the city, with an application covering corporate structure, equipment lists, storage facility details, and certificates of insurance: no less than $100,000 in garage liability coverage and $50,000 in garage keepers liability coverage per vehicle.

The permit costs $10 per tow truck, renews every February 1 at the same rate, and operating without one exposes the carrier to a fine of up to $500 or thirty days in jail under § 19-396(b). Before towing from commercial property without the vehicle owner's consent, § 19-399 requires the property to be posted with signs at least six square feet in size, warning of towing, the telephone number to call, and the address for vehicle release; the towing carrier must telephone the police department within thirty minutes of the tow to report it, and any carrier missing the one-hour notice window forfeits its towing and storage fees.

Carriers must stay staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to release vehicles on request. Section 19-400 caps the maximum nonconsensual tow rate for vehicles under 10,000 pounds at the greater of 150 percent of the city's most recent franchise towing fee for that quadrant or the average competitive bid for the quadrant, limits any drop charge to retrieve a vehicle before it is towed to fifty percent of that maximum, caps dolly fees at $10, and caps storage at $6 for the first 24 hours and $15 for each subsequent 24-hour period.