Pasco County, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)
Key Facts
- Boot release deadline
- 30 minutes after payment/request
- Rate authority
- Board sets max rates by resolution
- Sign requirement
- Posted at every driveway/curb cut
- Sign letter height
- 1 inch minimum, contrasting background
- Boot placement
- Steel boot, driver's-side front wheel
Summary
Pasco County regulates nonconsensual towing and vehicle booting through section 106-31.5 of its Code of Ordinances, capping what wreckers may charge for towing, storage and immobilization of vehicles removed without the owner's consent and setting strict rules for booting a car.
Sec. 106-31.5 - Nonconsensual private towing service rates. ... Maximum rates for nonconsensual towing services. The board shall establish by resolution maximum rates for nonconsensual towing services. The maximum rates established shall be uniform throughout unincorporated areas of the county. ... Persons who engage in nonconsensual towing services as described in and governed by this section shall not charge in excess of the maximum allowable rates established by the board, nor shall they charge any type of fees other than those for which the board has established maximum rates. ... Any person who had booted a vehicle shall release such vehicle as soon as practical, but not to exceed thirty (30) minutes of receiving a request for such vehicle's release; provided however that payment of any charge for booting is made at or prior to the time of such vehicle's release.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 94 Update 1 | Land Development Code: Supplement 20).
Full Breakdown
07(2)(b). It applies to towing or booting a vehicle or vessel from private property without the owner's or custodian's consent, including wrecks, disabled vehicles, and accident-scene removals. The board of county commissioners sets maximum permissible towing, storage, and immobilization rates by resolution, uniform across the unincorporated county, and a towing company operating under this section may not charge above those rates or add any fee the board has not authorized; companies working a rotation contract for a public agency such as a sheriff's office may be held to that agency's own, lower rate schedule instead.
Booting is tightly conditioned: the vehicle must be unlawfully parked with notice posted on the property, unoccupied by any person or animal, and immobilized with a steel boot on the driver's-side front wheel (or another wheel if that is not feasible); the booter must immediately affix an 8½-by-11-inch sticker warning against moving the vehicle and listing a business name, address and phone number, and must release the vehicle within 30 minutes of a release request once any booting charge is paid. ,' with the towing company's name and phone number, mounted three to six feet above ground on the passenger side within five feet of the entrance.
Violations & Fines
A towing or booting company that charges above the board's resolution-set maximum rates, or that bills for a fee the board has not authorized, violates section 106-31.5, and property owners who fail to post the required 'Maximum Rates set by County Ord.' signage lose their authority to have vehicles nonconsensually towed or booted from that property. Violations of the county's business ordinances are enforceable through code compliance citations, plus injunctive relief.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast must a Pasco County booting company release my car?
Does Pasco County set maximum tow truck rates?
What signs must a property post to allow nonconsensual towing in Pasco County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pasco County
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