Philadelphia, PA Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Chapter 12-2400 is the ordinance that applies when the city takes your car. It is distinct from Section 9-605, which licenses tow companies and governs non-consent tows from private property, so a tow arranged by a parking lot owner is judged under different rules than the ones described here. Under Section 12-2401 the Department means the Police Department, and a Towing Zone is an area designated by City Council by ordinance, or a non-public street the Streets Department designates after the Fire Commissioner or Police Commissioner certifies a hazard. Unusually, Council lists the actual towing zones in the Code itself: Section 12-2409 names streets such as Broad Street from Spring Garden Street to Hunting Park Avenue, Buttonwood Street between Sixteenth and Seventeenth as an all-hours zone, and every street from Bainbridge to Spring Garden between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers.

Section 12-2405 lists the triggers. A vehicle may be towed to the nearest Official Towing Station, or booted for up to 72 hours and then towed if not reclaimed, when it is abandoned on the highway, parked in a towing zone, blocking a driveway, parked on a sidewalk or across a curb cut, sitting in a disabled space, occupying a bus, taxicab or TNC stand, or carrying three or more delinquent parking tickets. For the three-ticket boot, the delinquency notice on the third ticket must have been outstanding at least 30 days, and tickets issued to the same owner across vehicles are counted together. Before towing, police must check whether the car has been reported stolen. If it has, and the violation is not one of the listed safety exceptions, they must try the contact number on the stolen report and give the owner 24 hours to collect the car instead of towing it. When the Parking Authority tows a car that turns out to be stolen, Section 12-2405(6) lets the owner recover it without paying towing or storage at all.

Notice of removal goes to the owner of record within 30 days, or within 72 hours where the car was towed as abandoned, and it must state where the car went, why, the fees, and that it can be auctioned if not reclaimed within 15 days of the notice. Lienholders get their own 15-day notice afterward. Section 12-2406(7) requires every notice under that section to be given in both Spanish and English.

To get the car back, Section 12-2406 offers four routes. You can demand an expedited hearing before a Parking Hearing Examiner, which must be held no later than the first day excluding Sunday after the written demand; if the examiner finds there was no reasonable cause for the tow, the car comes back with no boot, tow or storage charge. You can pay in full, which releases the car immediately but waives the right to contest the tickets and the charges. You can post a bond equal to the amount owed. Or you can leave the car in the lot and wait for the ordinary Chapter 12-2800 hearing. Paying in full means every delinquent ticket on every vehicle registered in your name, not just the towed one. An installment plan with the Finance Director office can also produce a release order.