New Jersey Predatory Towing Rules: Decoupling, 36-Inch Signs and a $750 Storage Cap

The rule at N.J.A.C. 13:45A-31.1 states its own purpose: it implements P.L. 2007, c. 193 as amended by P.L. 2009, c. 39, codified at N.J.S.A. 56:13-7 et seq. The definitions in 31.2 do most of the work. A "basic tow" is a single flat fee that already includes arriving at the site, 15 minutes of waiting time, hooking or loading the vehicle, transporting it to a storage facility, unhooking and situating it in its space, issuing release documents and an itemized bill, three trips to the vehicle in storage including making it available to an insurance appraiser or adjuster, and retrieving the vehicle from storage during open hours. A New Jersey tower that itemizes a separate charge for any of those steps is charging twice for the basic tow.

Beyond the basic tow, N.J.A.C. 13:45A-31.4(a) allows extra charges only for a closed list of services, and only in the case of a motor vehicle involved in an accident: waiting time beyond 15 minutes billed in 15-minute increments rounded up, brush cleaning, site clean-up billed by the number of bags of absorbent used, winching billed per half hour, window wrap, tarping, transmission disconnect only where the vehicle is locked and the tower cannot get the keys, use of a flat bed truck only where the vehicle can be transported no other way, special recovery equipment beyond the first tow truck billed in half-hour increments, decoupling, storage, more than three trips to the vehicle, and after-hours or weekend release. Subsection (b) forbids a flat bed charge where the vehicle could safely have been towed upright by another truck, even if the company chose the flat bed. Subsection (e) closes the list: no fee may be charged for anything not on it. Tolls incurred driving to the site and hauling to storage are chargeable under (c).

Storage math is fixed by rule rather than by the tower. Under 31.4(d) storage is calculated in full 24-hour periods, and the rule gives its own example: a vehicle towed in at 7:00 P.M. and collected before 7:00 P.M. the next day is one day of storage. The bill must state the time the vehicle was delivered to the storage facility. Under 31.7 the facility must have a business office open to the public between 8:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. at least five days a week and must be a secure storage facility, meaning completely indoors or enclosed by a fence, wall or other man-made barrier at least six feet high and lighted from dusk to dawn. The company must provide or arrange after-hours release, and if it refused to release during normal business hours it may not charge an after-hours release fee at all. The vehicle must go to the nearest facility with capacity to receive it.

A fee is presumed unreasonable under N.J.A.C. 13:45A-31.5 if it is more than 25 percent higher than what the same company charges for the same service on a consensual tow, more than 50 percent higher than other companies charge in the municipality the vehicle was towed from, or higher than the maximum in a municipal fee schedule adopted under N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.49. Municipal storage fees paid by a municipality are separately capped by N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.50 at $3.00 per day for the first 30 days, $2.00 per day from the 31st day, and $400.00 per vehicle overall, subject to a good cause waiver from the Division of Local Government Services.

Signs are the gate on private property towing. Under N.J.A.C. 13:45A-31.6(a), a tower may not remove a vehicle unless it holds a written contract with the property owner, the property owner has authorized removal of that vehicle, the vehicle goes to the nearest secure facility, and a sign at least 36 inches by 36 inches is posted in a conspicuous place at each vehicular entrance listing the purposes and times parking is authorized, that unauthorized parking is prohibited and vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense, the tower's name, address and telephone number, the towing and storage charges, the street address and redemption hours of the storage facility, and that a consumer may contact the Division of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-242-5846, prompt number 4. Three situations escape the sign rule entirely under (b): a lot with a single-family unit, a lot with an owner-occupied structure of not more than six units, and a vehicle blocking a driveway or garage entrance. A residential community with clearly marked assigned spaces gets a reduced sign under (c), but that exemption does not extend to a commercial or nonresidential lot inside the community.

Every rule in the subchapter is enforced through consumer protection law. C. L. 1960, c. A. A. 56:13-21(a) says the same of the statute. A. C. 4(f) and (g) set that interest at the average rate of return of the State of New Jersey Cash Management Fund for the preceding fiscal year ending June 30, as reported by the Division of Investment. A. 56:13-16 requires the company to notify the operator, owner, lessor and lienholder within 30 days of the vehicle arriving at the lot; a company that fails to do so may charge a maximum storage fee of $750 and is responsible for all additional towing or related storage services.

A. 56:13-16 also makes it unlawful to give any benefit to a person for tips about unauthorized parking, to patrol or surveil private property looking for vehicles to tow without a specific request from the property owner, and to refuse a debit, charge or credit card the operator ordinarily accepts. C. 9. Complaints go to the Division of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-242-5846, prompt number 4.