Arizona Private Property Towing Signage and Consent Law

A.R.S. § 9-499.05 governs nonconsensual towing from private property statewide, but it leaves the dollar amount up to local government: subsection A lets "the governing body of an incorporated city or town" set the maximum rate and charge for towing, transporting or impounding, and a carrier towing from inside that city is bound by its cap. Outside an incorporated city or town, or where the town has not passed such an ordinance, no rate ceiling applies under this statute.

What is uniform statewide is the sign and consent regime. Subsection B requires signs clearly visible and readable both from any point in the parking area and at each entrance, stating the parking restrictions, the maximum cost to the violator "including storage fees and any other charges that could result from the disposition of a vehicle parked in violation," and the telephone number and address where the owner can locate the vehicle. A lot without a compliant sign is deemed to have consented to unrestricted public parking, so nothing on it can lawfully be towed under this section.

Even with a sign posted, subsection C bars a private towing carrier from towing without the vehicle owner's own permission unless it has a law enforcement request or the express written permission of the property owner or agent, who must either sign each towing order individually or authorize tows under a written contract valid for a specific length of time; the towing company itself cannot act as the property owner's agent. Violating subsection C is a class 2 misdemeanor under subsection D. The section carves out abandoned and junk vehicles, which are instead disposed of under Title 28, Chapter 11.

A companion duty sits in A.R.S. § 28-4836: whoever tows a vehicle without the owner's consent must phone the law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction where the vehicle sat within one hour of the tow. Skipping that call forfeits every claim to towing and storage fees and is itself a class 1 misdemeanor.

Towing without the owner's permission, a police request, or a property owner's written consent given after posting a compliant sign is a class 2 misdemeanor under subsection D. Separately, failing to notify local police by phone within one hour of any nonconsensual tow forfeits the carrier's entire claim to towing and storage charges and is itself a class 1 misdemeanor under A.R.S. § 28-4836(C). Rate disputes are enforced under whatever cap the city or town where the tow occurred has adopted, since the state itself sets none.