Rhode Island Trespass Towing: 10-Mile Impound Limit, Same Release Hours, Free Return of Your Belongings

Rhode Island runs nonconsensual towing through the Towing Storage Act, R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 39-12.1, enacted by P.L. 1994, ch. 328, § 1. Only a certificated tower may do the work: § 39-12.1-2(3) defines that as a carrier holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the public utilities administrator for transporting vehicles by tow-away method. Section 39-12.1-15 puts supervision, regulation and enforcement of the whole chapter with the public utilities administrator, and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers publishes the current list of certified towers and takes complaints at (401) 780-2158.

Section 39-12.1-12 governs private trespass towing, the kind that happens in an apartment, condominium or store lot. Three conditions bind the tow. The impoundment lot must be within ten miles of the point of removal, so a Providence tow cannot end up in a yard across the state. The lot must be open for business to release the vehicle the same hours it is open to receive the vehicle, which is what stops the classic trap of a car taken in at 2 a.m. into a yard whose counter opens at 9 a.m. on weekdays only. And the business hours must be posted on the outside of the office of the lot. Subsection (c) adds a fourth: the tower may remove a vehicle only on the property owner's written direction, which the tower must keep in its records, and that writing is a complete defense to any civil and criminal charge arising from the removal. If a tower cannot produce a written authorization for your tow, it acted outside the statute.

Who pays and who gets paid back is in subsection (b). All charges for towing under the published tariff and for storage are borne by the last registered or legal owner, and the tower holds a possessory lien for them under § 39-12.1-6. If the owner proves through judicial process that the vehicle was not in fact trespassing, the charges shift to the property owner or person in control who ordered the tow. There is a hard prerequisite: the vehicle owner must first pay the tower in full according to its published tariff before pursuing the property owner. Rhode Island therefore gives you a reimbursement claim, not a right to withhold payment.

Rates are not in the statute. Section 39-12.1-12(b) and the Division's rule at 815-RICR-50-05-1 § 1.13.1(B) both say charges shall be in accordance with the certificated tower's published tariff. The governing schedule is the Non-Consensual Tow Tariff in Division Docket 18-MC-94, approved by Report and Order 24243 in October 2021 after a hearing on May 4, 2021. Ask the tower for its filed tariff page before paying, and check the figure against the docket. Rhode Island has no statutory drop fee: neither ch. 39-12.1 nor the Division rule sets a reduced charge for an owner who returns while the vehicle is still hooked but not yet moved, and neither requires warning signs at the parking lot itself. The only posting the state rules mandate is the business hours on the outside of the impound lot office.

The belongings rule is Rhode Island's strongest consumer protection here, and it sits in the regulation rather than the statute. Section 1.13.2(B) of 815-RICR-50-05-1 provides that when a towed vehicle contains personal items, the towing company shall release those personal items to the owner or the individual in control of the vehicle immediately upon request, regardless of whether the towing charges have been paid, because § 39-12.1-6 gives the tower a possessory lien only on the vehicle itself and its registration plates. Section 1.13.2(A) covers animals: the tower must notify the local animal control officer or the police department of the city or town the vehicle was towed from immediately upon towing, and if the owner or person in control is present at the time of the tow, the animal is released on the spot regardless of payment.

Notice deadlines carry a money penalty for the tower. Under § 1.13(A) the tower must notify the last known registered owner by registered mail, return receipt requested, within seven days that the vehicle has been taken into custody, and under § 1.13(B) all known lienholders of record within fourteen days. If the tower misses the seven-day deadline, it may not charge the registered owner storage fees accruing between the date notice was due and the date it actually gave notice, and the same forfeiture applies to an unnotified lienholder on the fourteen-day clock. Where the owner cannot be identified from registry records or by searching the vehicle, § 1.13(C) allows notice by publication in one newspaper of general circulation in the area, on the same deadlines.

The notice itself must state, among other things, that the owner may retake possession at any time during business hours by appearing, proving ownership and paying all charges due under the published tariff; that the owner may file an administrative complaint under R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-12 to contest the original taking if it was improper or not legally justified; and that if the vehicle is not claimed within thirty days of the mailing, the lien is foreclosed and the vehicle sold at public auction, with sale proceeds applied first to recovery, towing and storage and any shortfall remaining a civil obligation of the owner.

The public utilities administrator enforces ch. 1-15, and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers Motor Carriers Section handles complaints against certificated towers, including complaints that a tower charged more than its filed tariff, impounded farther than ten miles away, refused to release the vehicle during its receiving hours, or would not hand over personal property. I. Gen. Laws § 39-12 to contest the original taking. A tower that misses the seven-day owner notice or the fourteen-day lienholder notice forfeits the storage charges that accrued during the delay.

1-12(b), which requires proving through judicial process that the vehicle was not in fact trespassing. Move quickly on an unclaimed vehicle: thirty days after the notice is mailed, the lien is foreclosed and the vehicle goes to public auction, and any charges above the sale proceeds remain your civil obligation.