Broward County, FL Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Broward County does not confine its towing rules to unincorporated pockets. Section 20-176.9 declares the Consumer Protection Code that houses these regulations to be a uniform consumer code applicable in all the unincorporated and incorporated areas of Broward County, and Section 20-176.13(a) makes an operating license mandatory whether the company's primary place of business sits inside or outside the county, with a copy of that license filed with each Broward municipality the licensee works in. Section 20-176.17(e) then lets municipal code enforcement officials, city police agencies and the Broward Sheriff's Office enforce the county rules alongside the Environmental Licensing and Building Permitting Division, so a Fort Lauderdale or Pembroke Pines tow is governed by the same countywide standard.

Before a private lot tow is lawful, Section 20-176.19(a)(2) requires a tow-away sign posted and continuously maintained for at least twenty-four hours, placed at every driveway access or curb cut within five feet of the public right-of-way line, or one sign for each twenty-five feet of frontage where there are no curbs, with the bottom of the sign no less than three feet and the top no more than six feet above ground level. The words "tow-away zone" must appear in light-reflective letters at least four inches high, and the warning, the towing days and hours, and the tow company name and telephone number in letters at least two inches high. A business with twenty or fewer parking spaces may instead post a four-inch-lettered reserved-parking sign on the space itself. The property owner must sign and date a written instruction specific to each individual vehicle; a standing contract, the posted sign, or a blanket order given before the car ever parked does not count, and the person giving the instruction may not be an agent of the tow company.

The county code does not print a dollar cap of its own. Section 20-176.22 leaves maximum and allowable rates for nonconsent towing and immobilization to be established by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, and the penalty schedule refers to the maximum rates allowed by the Broward County Administrative Code, so the current figures have to be read from the Board resolution rather than from the ordinance text. What the ordinance does fix is the drop fee: under Section 20-176.19(b)(3), if you reach your car before the service is completed there is no charge at all, unless a complete mechanical connection already exists, in which case the operator may collect a reasonable service fee of not more than one-half of the posted rate. That tracks the ceiling in Section 715.07, Florida Statutes, which Broward builds on rather than displaces.

Payment and release terms are unusually detailed. Cash, credit card and debit card must all be accepted, cash change is given to the closest whole dollar, and if the card machine is down the licensee must call the authorization in manually or use another processing method; failing that, the vehicle must be released without payment and the money chased afterward. Only one government-issued photo identification may be demanded. Four time and date stamped photographs, of the front of the vehicle, the back, any readily visible damage, and the parking violation itself, must be taken before the tow, and a licensee who cannot produce them must refund the towing fee on top of any fine. At the lot, the posted rate schedule must carry the notice telling you that you may post a bond in the circuit court instead of paying and that a valid clerk's certificate compels immediate release, and on payment the operator must hand over a Division-approved consumer bill of rights bearing the Division's complaint line, 954-765-4400, in size 14 bold capitals.

Two Broward provisions are distinctive enough to note. No vehicle may be towed while a living natural person is occupying it, and if that occupant is homeless the operator must first offer and provide transportation to the nearest homeless assistance center. Separately, a tow company may not provide or subsidize lot monitoring services for a property owner, or pay any rebate, to win the towing privilege, and it may not tow a car displaying a visible, valid, paid receipt on the windshield whatever the lot's own rules say. Booting is regulated in parallel by Section 20-176.21: a removable sticker at least four inches by seven inches on the driver-side rear window, a response to the vehicle within one hour of the owner's call, and removal of the device within thirty minutes after the removal fee is paid. County park pay parking zones are handled separately under Section 23-49, where the park manager may tow a vehicle left unattended more than twenty-four hours or parked overnight without authorizing signage.