Surprise, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Non-consent towing from private property in Surprise runs through Code Sec. 54-116 to 54-124, adopted by Ordinance No. 2024-22. A 'private towing carrier' is anyone who commercially tows, transports, immobilizes, or impounds a vehicle from private property without the owner's prior permission. Under Sec. 54-117, the city council fixes maximum towing, storage, and release fees by resolution at least once every five years, and a carrier may charge nothing beyond that schedule. Before towing, Sec. 54-118 requires the carrier to notify the police department with the vehicle owner's information, VIN, description, reason for the tow, and the tow-truck driver's license number, unless the owner gave express permission.

Sec. 54-119 requires the property owner or agent to sign each tow order or a written contract valid for a set period; the carrier itself cannot act as that agent. Sec. 54-120 requires any private lot restricting parking to post signs at every entrance stating the restrictions, the disposition of towed vehicles, the maximum cost to the violator, and a phone number to locate the vehicle; a lot without conforming signs cannot have a vehicle towed from it. A carrier must also post the maximum fees at the impound lot's main entrance in one-inch lettering and post a second sign at the payment counter listing Sections 54-116 through 54-124 and the specific authorized fees. Sec. 54-121 bars charging for any service not listed in the fee resolution, and ignorance of the maximum charge is not a defense.