Portland, OR Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Notice runs on 48-hour clocks. Under Section 16.30.320 the City mails notice to the registered owner and anyone else who reasonably appears to have an interest within 48 hours of the tow, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. That notice must give the vehicle's location, the address and phone number of whoever can quote the charges that must be paid, and a warning that the vehicle and its contents carry a lien and that failing to claim it within 15 days of the mailing date waives all interest in it. Where advance notice is required, Section 16.30.310 makes the City affix a tow warning to the vehicle at least 10 days before the tow and mail a follow-up notice within 48 hours of affixing it, and a timely hearing request stops the tow until the Tow Hearings Officer rules.

No dollar towing or storage figure appears anywhere in Chapter 16.30. Section 16.30.510 says only that the charges related to towing, storage and demolition are fixed by City contract for towing and storage, and that the tow company or the City may execute a lien if the vehicle goes unclaimed for 30 days from the date of tow. For tows off private lots, Section 7.24.060 has the PBOT Director issue a schedule of approved maximum fees at the beginning of each permit period, published annually, and Section 7.24.080 B. bars a tower from charging any fee not on that schedule. Oregon sets no statewide ceiling and ORS 98.859 leaves the maximum rate to each city or county, so the City tow contract and the Director's PPI schedule, not the code text, hold Portland's actual numbers.

Winning the hearing erases the bill. Section 16.30.430 orders the vehicle released immediately, drops the owner's liability for tow and storage charges and returns money already paid, and Section 16.30.530 makes the City itself pay a private company's charges when the tow is found invalid and those charges have not already been paid. Inability to pay is not by itself a reason to waive charges. Once the Tow Hearings Officer announces a determination the vehicle must be collected within 24 hours or storage charges start accruing again under Section 16.30.550. Section 16.30.450 allows one hearing per tow, refuses to reschedule for anyone who fails to appear without good cause, and gives no hearing at all to owners whose vehicles were immobilized or towed on a Multnomah County Circuit Court order under Section 16.30.240. The Code Hearings Officer appointed under Portland City Code Title 22 sits as the Tow Hearings Officer.

On private lots the PPI Code adds protections the public-street chapter does not carry. A tower is entitled to a Release at the Scene fee only once the hookup is complete and the tow truck has engaged its transmission and moved forward, and until then it may charge nothing at all (Section 7.24.070 G.). The storage yard must be inside Portland city limits, the vehicle must be made available within 30 minutes of payment at no extra charge, an attendant is required from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday with a 30-minute release window at other hours by appointment, gate fees do not apply between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on weekdays, and the tower must accept cash or any valid credit or debit card bearing the Visa emblem issued in the registered owner's name. Owners may inspect the vehicle and remove an animal or emergency belongings within 15 days of the tow without paying anything but an after-hours gate fee, and no tower may require anyone to sign away the right to dispute the tow or the fees.

One caution about the chapter as published: it cross-references Sections 16.30.230, 16.30.300 and 16.30.400, none of which appear as printed sections in the current text, so those references appear to survive from an earlier numbering. Confirm the current text with the Auditor before relying on a cross-referenced section.