Tallahassee, FL Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Article IV of the parking chapter defines and bans abandoned vehicles across seven scenarios in Sec. 20-131, including a vehicle without a current license tag, one missing operable parts for at least three days, one sitting on another's property without written permission, and one whose owner cannot be located after reasonable inquiry. Sec. 20-132 then flatly prohibits abandoning a vehicle or leaving it anywhere in the city under circumstances that make it reasonably appear abandoned, with no time buffer at all. Sec. 20-133 separately bars leaving any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked or junked vehicle on a street or highway, again with no grace period, since a public street is treated more strictly than private property.

Sec. 20-134 is where the 72-hour clock lives: a property owner, tenant, occupant or lessee cannot allow such a vehicle to sit on their property longer than 72 hours, though the article exempts a vehicle inside an enclosed building, one on a lawfully operated business's premises when necessary to that business, and one in an appropriate city storage depository. Sec. 20-135 gives the city manager or designated representatives authority to remove any vehicle that reasonably appears to violate the article, or that is lost, stolen or unclaimed, and to impound it until it is lawfully claimed or disposed of according to law. Owners of vehicles the city tows and impounds are responsible for the resulting storage charges under Sec. 20-49 of the same chapter.