Charlotte, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Article XI of Chapter 6 defines a trespass tow as removing a motor vehicle without the owner's or operator's consent from a private parking lot without the property owner's or agent's consent (Section 6-561). Section 6-562 bars any towing service from conducting a trespass tow originating within the city without following the article. 5-inch red letters, the parking restriction, the retrieval phone number and storage-facility address, and the maximum fees, all mounted between three and eight feet above ground. Section 6-564 requires booting services to show photo identification on request, mark their vehicles with the company name and address in letters at least three inches tall, and accept cash plus at least two major credit or debit cards.

Section 6-565 sets operating practices: a towing service must release a vehicle already hooked but not fully removed upon payment of the posted fee, allow the owner to retrieve personal property, accept cash and at least two credit/debit cards, keep someone on call 24 hours a day who acknowledges a retrieval request within 15 minutes and makes the car available within 45 minutes, and store the vehicle only within Charlotte's city limits. require a contemporaneous written authorization signed by the lot's owner or agent (not a towing-company employee) and a call to CMPD's non-emergency line for a complaint number before the vehicle leaves.

Section 6-566 makes it unlawful to interfere with a lawful tow except when the owner verbally requests release. 00 civil penalty per violation, assessed by a police officer under Section 2-24.