Pennsylvania Private Lot Towing: Posted Signs Required, $25 Daily Storage Cap

Pennsylvania splits towing into two bodies of law that do not overlap, and knowing which one applies to your tow decides what rights you have.

A tow from a shopping center, apartment lot, restaurant lot or any other private parking lot runs on 75 Pa.C.S. § 3353. Subsection (b)(1) makes it unlawful to park or leave a vehicle unattended on private property without the consent of the owner or person in control, except in an emergency or when the vehicle is disabled, in which case the driver must arrange removal as soon as possible. Subsection (b)(2) then removes private parking lots from that rule entirely "unless such lots are posted to notify the public of any parking restrictions and the operator of the vehicle violates such posted restrictions." A private parking lot for this purpose is a lot open to the public or used for parking without charge, or a lot used for parking with a charge, so nearly every commercial lot in the Commonwealth is one.

The statute hands the posting standard to PennDOT, and PennDOT wrote it at 67 Pa. Code § 212.115. Public notice signs must state the restriction, and § 212.115(b)(2) requires them at each entrance to the lot, facing traffic entering the lot; where a lot has no designated entrance because a side is continuously open to the roadway, signs must be placed so as to be readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver. A primary restriction such as "private parking," "parking by permit only" or "authorized parking only" must be lettered at least 3 inches high, with one additional inch of letter height for every 25-foot interval beyond 75 feet from the entrance point, and a stroke width of at least one eighth of the required legend height. Secondary messages, which is where the hours of the day, days of the week, charges and the warning that unauthorized vehicles may be towed belong, must be at least half the primary dimensions and never less than 2 inches of letter height. Signs that apply after dark must be retroreflectorized or illuminated so that entering headlights make them readable. The regulation also says the name and telephone number of the owner or person in control of the property should appear on the sign.

Section 212.115(b)(4) is the sentence to quote to a tow operator: "Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3353(b), the prosecution of an owner or towing a vehicle from a private parking lot is prohibited unless restrictions are posted in accordance with this subsection." An unposted lot, or a lot posted with 2-inch primary lettering, or a lot with no sign at the entrance the driver used, has no towing authority to exercise.

When the tow is lawful, § 3353(c) sets the money. The property owner may remove the vehicle "at the reasonable expense of the owner of the vehicle" and takes a lien against the vehicle owner for the reasonable value of the removal cost plus storage. Any city, borough, incorporated town or township may by ordinance set the rates charged for removal and regulate authorized towing services, which is why Philadelphia and Pittsburgh figures differ from a rural township's. Where the municipality has not set storage charges, the statute caps them: "a maximum of $25 per day may be charged for storage." There is no statewide cap on the hookup or mileage charge, only the word "reasonable," and Pennsylvania has no statutory drop fee, so nothing in state law fixes what you owe if you return while your car is still hooked up. The underlying parking violation itself is a summary offense carrying a fine of not more than $50 under § 3353(e).

Accident tows are governed instead by the Towing and Towing Storage Facility Standards Act, the Act of July 5, 2012, P.L. 990, No. 110, effective 60 days later on September 3, 2012. Its definition of "towing" is confined to moving, removing or recovering a motor vehicle "at the scene of a motor vehicle accident," consented to or not, so it does not reach a private lot tow. Within its scope it does real work: section 3(a) requires the operator to maintain a physical street address, register the tow truck with PennDOT, display the business name, address and telephone number on the truck, and post towing fees, storage and related service fees and hours of operation at the storage facility. Section 3(c) gives the vehicle owner the right to summon the tow operator of their choice, in consultation with law enforcement, and to designate where the vehicle goes, unless the owner is incapacitated, defers to police, or the chosen operator cannot respond in time while the vehicle is a hazard. Section 3(d) forbids the operator, as a condition of the tow, from getting your signature on a document authorizing repairs or authorizing storage for more than 24 hours. Section 3(e) requires release during posted hours unless law enforcement has asked that the vehicle be held, requires all charges to be itemized in writing, and requires acceptance of cash, a credit card from a common issuer, or a check from an insurance company or an authorized tower or salvor acting for the insurer. Section 3(f) requires hours that reasonably allow access and reasonable access for inspection and retrieval, and section 3(g) bars a storage fee for any period during which the operator refused that access or refused an authorized inspection under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1799.4 or section 11 of the Motor Vehicle Physical Damage Appraiser Act.

Two changes are on the way and are not law yet. The Act of July 20, 2026, P.L. 529, No. 46 adds 18 Pa.C.S. § 7332, turning those same accident-scene requirements into a criminal offense punishable by up to $750 for a first operational violation and $1,500 for a repeat, up to $2,500 for improper towing conduct or unlawful retention and $5,000 for a repeat, with a law enforcement officer authorized to impound the tow truck on a third or subsequent violation; it takes effect 150 days after approval, on December 17, 2026. The Act of July 20, 2026, P.L. 436, No. 36 adds 75 Pa.C.S. § 3356, which will require private parking lot signage stating that the lot is not operated by a governmental entity and listing the parking and violation rates, and will require any invoice to be left on the vehicle or mailed to the registered owner within 10 business days; it takes effect 21 months after approval, in April 2028. Neither applies to a tow today.

For an accident-scene tow, section 4 of the 2012 act is the whole enforcement mechanism: "A violation of this act is also a violation of the act of December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law." That routes a complaint to the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General and gives the vehicle owner the private remedy the consumer protection law provides. Section 5(a) preserves local towing ordinances except where they conflict with the act and are less stringent than it, so a stricter city rule survives.

For a private lot tow, the leverage is different. Because 67 Pa. Code § 212.115(b)(4) prohibits the tow outright from an improperly posted lot, an owner towed from an unposted or undersigned lot is contesting the lien itself under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3353(c), which secures only the reasonable cost of a removal the statute authorized. Photograph the entrance you used, the sign if there is one, and a tape measure against the letter height before you pay, because those measurements are the case. Where the municipality has set no storage rate, anything above $25 per day is outside the statute. Municipal ordinances adopted under § 3353(c) are the only source of a hookup or mileage cap in Pennsylvania, so check the borough, township or city code for the lot's location before disputing the towing charge itself. Pennsylvania provides no administrative tow hearing and no statutory right to retrieve personal property from an impounded vehicle after a private lot tow, and the payment methods and itemization rules in the 2012 act do not apply, so a private lot operator is free to demand cash.