Arlington County, VA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

2-3 lets a police officer or other uniformed employee remove for safekeeping any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer found unattended on public streets or public grounds that poses a danger or hazard to traffic, sits in a temporary no-parking zone, occupies an unauthorized car-share space, has been left unattended more than ten days on public or private property that is not the owner's, or has been abandoned without the property owner's permission. The section also covers vehicles stalled or immobilized on a public roadway by weather or another emergency.

A vehicle is legally presumed abandoned if it lacks a current license plate, a current County sticker, or a valid state inspection sticker and has not been moved from one location for four days. On private property, a vehicle cannot be towed without the written request of the owner, lessee, or occupant, and that requester must indemnify the County for the cost of removal, storage, or sale. Every removal is reported to the Chief of Police and the owner is notified as promptly as possible.

Before getting the vehicle back, the owner must pay all reasonable costs of removal, storage, and locating the owner, post a bond for that amount, or show the County Manager or designee that the removal was unauthorized. The owner has ten days after paying or posting bond to request a hearing, which the County Manager or designee holds within two weeks if practicable; if the removal is found unauthorized, the charges are refunded. 2, makes it unlawful to leave a vehicle on someone else's private property without consent, and on the property owner's complaint a vehicle abandoned there more than five days may likewise be towed to a storage garage.