Vanderburgh County, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

50 regulates towing services and storage yards whenever they remove a vehicle believed abandoned. 090 sets the release rules: once a properly identified owner or lienholder appears and pays all towing, storage, and allowable fees, the vehicle or parts must be released, and the towing service may not separately charge an inspection fee to an owner, lienholder, or insurance representative just to inspect the vehicle or retrieve items. Payment must be accepted by cash, certified check, insurance check, money order, credit card, or debit card, and the towing service must hand over an itemized receipt containing the information required by Indiana Code 24-14-5.

Every towing service must stay open and reachable by phone during regular office hours and provide a 24-hour phone line that returns all calls, including after-hours calls, within 24 hours, except when weather, an act of God, or another uncontrollable emergency delays the callback. 180 requires the towing service (or public agency) to search the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System within three business days of taking the vehicle to try to identify the owner or lienholder, and to mail notice within three more business days of learning the name and address; a towing service that misses this notice deadline forfeits the right to collect additional storage costs accrued after it later learns the owner's identity.

090(g)-(j) lets the owner get the vehicle released within 24 hours by paying 75 percent of the invoice and posting a bond for the rest, then filing a civil complaint within 30 days for a court to decide the reasonable amount.