New Mexico Towing and Impound Rights: Tariff Caps, Lot Signage and Vehicle Release

Towing regulation in New Mexico moved to the Department of Transportation with the 2023 restructuring of motor carrier oversight, and 18.3.12 NMAC now lists the department as the issuing agency, citing Sections 8-8-4 and 65-2A-4 NMSA 1978 as its statutory authority. The rule applies to all towing services performing nonconsensual tows and to repossession services that use towing equipment. Its stated objective is that public highways cannot be cleared safely unless uniform maximum rates apply to tows requested or directed by law enforcement, and that owners need reasonably rapid access to operable vehicles taken in trespass tows.

Private-property tows carry the tightest paperwork. Before a car is moved from anywhere other than a public roadway, the towing service must already have written authorization from the property owner or lessee, or that person's agent, and 18.3.12.14 NMAC spells out what the authorization must contain: the name and signature of the owner, lessee or agent, the location of the property, how long the vehicle has been there, a description of the vehicle, the date and time of removal, and a statement that the vehicle is illegally parked. The operator must take a digital photograph of the car showing its position on the property. At commercial property or an apartment, a tow is barred outright unless visible signs warn the public, those signs give the exact starting and ending hours during which parking is prohibited, and the operator photographs the signage. The same section forbids kickbacks: a towing service may not pay or refund anything of value to a property owner or agent in exchange for the right to perform nonconsensual tows there.

Rates are ceilings, not suggestions. Under 18.3.6 NMAC no carrier may operate until a tariff of rates, terms and conditions is approved by and on file with the department, and a proposed tariff must state specific rates rather than ranges, may not impose mandatory gratuities, and may not limit liability for negligence. Wreckers that have not filed their own tariff run on the Statewide Wrecker Tariff published by the department. Its Class A/B maximums are $100.00 for the first mile and hookup, $5.00 a mile for miles 2 through 25, $3.50 a mile from mile 26, $3.50 a mile deadhead, a $15.00 after-hours response charge between 5:00 pm and 8:00 am, $100.00 an hour for recovery, $30.00 an hour for extra labor with a one-hour minimum, a $50.00 after-hours delivery charge, and a $35.00 administrative charge plus documented actual costs. Class C and Class D hookups cap at $175.00 and $225.00. Daily storage caps at $10.00 in a fenced and locked Type 1 yard, $15.00 in a fenced, lighted and locked Type 2 yard and $20.00 in an enclosed Type 3 structure for a Class A/B vehicle, with $1.00 a day added for each foot over 25 feet. Flat maximums cover the extras that inflate bills elsewhere: $50.00 for dollies, $25.00 for chain saws or a steel cutter, $25.00 for snow chains or four-wheel-drive use, $25.00 for a motorcycle caddy and sling, $20.00 for go jaks and $20.00 for an air compressor. Every bill must be itemized line by line, and written justification is required whenever extra equipment or extra labor appears on it.

The tariff defines hookup as the completed connection of the tow truck to the vehicle and says it may only be charged on a tow truck that actually transports the vehicle. New Mexico therefore has no separate drop fee: if you reach your car and the wrecker never hauls it away, there is no tariff line item to bill you under.

Getting the car and your belongings back is governed by 18.3.12.24 NMAC. Unless a law enforcement agency has ordered the vehicle held for investigation, the towing service must allow the owner, the owner's agent or the lienholder, without charge and during normal business hours, to inspect the vehicle, remove proof of ownership, and remove personal property on presenting proof of ownership. Release of the vehicle itself is a matter of right during normal or extended business hours once just and reasonable charges are paid and ownership is proved; a non-business-hours release is optional for the operator and carries the tariffed administrative charge. Operators must accept cash and must also accept either a credit card or a check, and must post which forms of payment they take. Storage yards must sit within one mile of the office, and a service that performs public directive tows must have someone able to meet you at the yard within two hours of a phone call requesting an appointment during normal business hours.

Notice deadlines run against the towing service, not you. Under 18.3.12.26 NMAC it must request registered owner and lienholder information within three business days of taking possession, and must mail notice on MVD Form 10058 by certified mail, return receipt requested, within two business days of receiving that information.

26 NMAC a towing service shall not collect any charges or liens for storage of an unclaimed motor vehicle if it failed to request ownership information within three business days or to mail notice to the registered owner and lienholder within two business days of receiving it. 24 NMAC requires the operator to hand you a written statement giving the name, address and telephone number of the consumer relations division of the department and telling you that you may file a complaint. Complaints go to the Transportation Regulation Bureau of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which publishes the directory of regulated wrecker companies and each company's approved tariff.

14 NMAC a written complaint about tariff rates, terms of service or a related practice lets the department immediately suspend that rate, term or practice for up to 60 days while it investigates, and if the complaint is substantiated the department may modify and impose a tariff to bring the carrier into compliance and pursue penalties as prescribed by law. 14 NMAC requires, or paying a property owner for tow rights, exposes the carrier's operating warrant to department action. 28 NMAC, so the paperwork behind a disputed tow is still retrievable long after the fact.