As of Monday, tow truck companies operating in Montgomery County can no longer use “spotters” to identify people who park their cars illegally.
The ban on the use of spotters, which forbids tow truck companies from using employees to monitor, patrol or surveil parking lots except between 2 and 9 a.m., is now in effect. So are 28 other changes to the county’s towing law that are part of a bill passed in July by the County Council.
Those changes also put more responsibility on commercial property owners that hire tow truck companies to tow illegally parked cars from their parking lots. Commercial property owners are now required to authorize each tow from one of their parking lots in writing (except for between 2 and 9 a.m.) and they must register online with the county’s Office of Consumer Protection (OCP).
The OCP will collect annual towing reports from commercial property owners that hire tow trucks. Those property owners have 30 days to register.
Under the law changes, the OCP will also have subpoena and enforcement authority to look into claims that tow truck companies are using spotters, not accepting credit cards or violating the new law in any other way.
The law that went into effect Monday also:
- Requires signs posted by property owners and tow truck companies that are 24 inches by 30 inches and posted at entrances and in parking lots warning of consequences for illegal parking;
- Requires photographic evidence of violations or of events precipitating the towing of a vehicle and requires a copy of photographs to be provided to the vehicle owner when retrieving a vehicle;
- Requires towing firms to notify the county police before leaving a parking lot;
- Requires towing companies to have personnel available 24 hours a day at brightly lit impound lots so vehicle owners can safely retrieve cars at any time;
- Allows vehicle owners to retrieve personal property without charge from a vehicle that has been towed;
- Allows consumers to see the contract between the towing firm and property owner;
- Authorizes the county executive to set flat rates for towing;
- Limits the amount a towing firm can charge for an incomplete tow (also known as a "drop fee") to $25
