Decatur, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

City Code § 98-81, Licensing and registration, opens Article III, Private Trespass Towing, and makes it unlawful for any person, as principal, agent or employee, to operate a wrecker on city streets or do any trespass towing without a business license granted under Chapter 22. § 44-1-13, positioned at each designated lot entrance or, where there is no designated entrance, visible from every parking space. Those signs must state the maximum towing cost and maximum daily storage cost per the city's schedule of fees and charges, the address where towed vehicles are taken, that checks and credit cards are accepted at no extra fee, that no storage fee applies if the vehicle was held less than 24 hours, that the requirements come from state law and city ordinance, and the police division's complaint line.

Section 98-82 bars towing, and bars charging any fee, if the vehicle's operator returns before the wrecker leaves the scene. Section 98-83 caps towing and storage fees at the amounts in the city's schedule of fees and charges, bars any extra charge for dollies, trailers, lifts or slim jims, requires cash, check with ID, and at least one major credit card be accepted, and requires the fee schedule to be reset annually by the city commission based on cost information towing firms submit by October 31 each year. The maximum fee cap does not apply to trespass towing of vehicles weighing more than two tons.