Leander, TX Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)
Key Facts
- Private property tow cap, light duty
- $140.00 (medium $310.00, heavy $410.00 per unit up to $820.00)
- Drop fee if you arrive before removal
- $75.00 light duty, $150.00 medium, $200.00 heavy
- Police ordered collision tow, light duty
- $250.00 plus $100.00 per hour on scene
- Notice to police after a private impound or repo
- Within one hour of the tow beginning
- Rotation list size
- Maximum of five wrecker companies, reviewed every two years
- Required response time
- 30 minutes, or 60 minutes for a heavy duty call
- Storage lot location limit
- City limits, ETJ, or within 15 miles of them
- Maximum fine
- $500.00 per violation, class C misdemeanor
Summary
Leander sets its own dollar ceiling on every nonconsent tow that starts inside the city. Under the appendix A fee schedule at Sec. A4.008, a private property impound of a light duty vehicle may not exceed $140.00, a medium duty tow $310.00, and a heavy duty tow $410.00 per unit up to $820.00. A driver who reaches the vehicle while it is still hooked up pays a drop fee of $75.00, $150.00 or $200.00 instead, and the schedule closes with the instruction that no other charges will be allowed. The Leander Police Department, not a city board, permits the wrecker companies and rules on fee complaints.
The following maximum allowable fees may be charged for wrecker operations originating within the city's corporate limits or any roadway subject to the city's jurisdiction. No other charges will be allowed: ... (4)Private property tows:(A)Private property tows: The maximum amount that may be charged for private property tows is as follows:(i)Light duty tows: $140.00.(ii)Medium duty tows: $310.00.(iii)Heavy duty tows: $410.00 per unit or a maximum of $820.00.(B)Drop fees: If the owner, authorized operator, or authorized agent of the owner of a motor vehicle that is parked without the authorization of the property owner attempts to retrieve the motor vehicle before its removal from the property or parked location, the maximum amount that may be charged for a drop charge/drop fee (if the motor vehicle is hooked up) is:(i)Light duty drops: $75.00.(ii)Medium duty drops: $150.00.(iii)Heavy duty drops: $200.00.(C)If an owner, authorized operator, or authorized agent of the owner of a motor vehicle is present before the removal from the property or parked location the towing operator shall advise the owner, authorized operator, or authorized agent of the owner of a motor vehicle that he or she may offer payment of the towing drop charge. ... (F)For purposes of this section, a tow company must accept cash, credit cards and debit cards as payment for the drop charge.
Full Breakdown
10 of the Leander Code of Ordinances governs wrecker service, and it splits towing into two priced worlds. A private property impound, the kind ordered by an apartment complex or shopping center, is capped at the Sec. 008(4) figures above. 00 an hour when a rotator is used. Hourly time is billed in 30 minute increments. 00 an hour by weight class. 00 flat fee for a haul truck and trailer. 006(h)(1) then applies whichever is lower, the Leander schedule or the ceiling state law allows under Tex.
Occ. Code ch. 2308, so a company cannot fall back on the statewide TDLR maximum when the city number is smaller. Storage and impound notification fees are the one gap the city left to the state deliberately. Only permitted companies may run these tows. The chief of police keeps a wrecker rotation list capped at five companies, reviewed every two years and expandable only by council resolution, and a company must reach the scene within 30 minutes, or 60 for heavy duty, or the call is cancelled and passed to the next name.
Dispatch tries a company twice before moving on. gov at least two calendar days ahead to be skipped without penalty. Every vehicle storage facility must sit inside the city, its extraterritorial jurisdiction, or within 15 miles. 009 gives the owner the paper trail: within one hour of beginning a private property impound or a repossession, the operator must notify the police communications division with the plate, registration year and state, VIN, color, make, model, the reason for the tow, who authorized it, where the vehicle was, and the address and phone of the storage lot.
A company towing from outside Leander into a storage lot inside the city must call it in before the vehicle crosses the city line. 00 under Tex. Occ. 203, and may not request another for 24 months. The schedule and most of the article were last rewritten by Ord. No. 23-016-00 on March 2, 2023.
Violations & Fines
Complaints go to the Leander Police Department rather than a court in the first instance. Any person aggrieved by a permit holder or operator may file a written complaint, which the unit overseeing wreckers investigates before a command supervisor affirms, modifies or reverses the finding and issues written notice within 15 calendar days. Appeals climb a four step ladder on a ten calendar day clock at each rung: command supervisor, then assistant chief of police, then chief of police, then the city manager, whose decision is final.
An appeal does not stay a suspension, and where a suspension runs under 20 calendar days the assistant chief's word ends it. Suspensions escalate within a permit year at not more than 30 calendar days for a first violation, not more than 90 for a second, and whatever the chief determines for a third, including permanent revocation. A major violation, which includes a drunk driving conviction, any breach of a TDLR rule, or charging a vehicle owner for work never performed, lets the chief revoke a company from the rotation list immediately with no appeal at all.
New permit holders spend six months on probation and can be dropped without a hearing. Overcharging carries a direct remedy: the department may order the company to refund the amount charged above the schedule and the full amount of any service not listed in it. 00. Separately, a wrecker that drives to a collision scene it was not called to, or solicits business there, is presumed to be soliciting in violation of the article, and drivers must park at least 25 feet from the wrecked vehicle and clear the debris before leaving.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a company charge to tow my car out of a Leander parking lot?
Can I stop the tow if I reach my car before it leaves?
What if I am charged more than the schedule allows?
Does the city rate or the Texas rate apply?
How do I find out where my car was taken?
Who decides whether a Leander tow company keeps its permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Leander
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