Taking an Industry in Tow: The Role of the New York Attorney General in Enforcing State Towing Laws – N.Y.U. Journal of Legislation & Public Policy

By Grace Getman

October 11, 2024

Exorbitant fees.¹ Fake parking “tickets” that mimic government parking tickets.² Cars hauled away for no reason.³ Vehicles towed away in the middle of the night.⁴ Cars towed away with children still inside.⁵ Employees hired to monitor parking lots for parking violations, even if such violations lasted only minutes.⁶ The towing industry has an unpalatable reputation, and it’s easy to see why. Even if towing were always justified, towers would likely never be popular.⁷ However, the power that towing companies can exert over property — and the profit they receive for doing so — incentivizes bad behavior, making towing a consumer protection issue.

The New York State Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) can play a role in supporting the greater enforcement of towing laws. First, the OAG can educate consumers of their rights — both pre-tow and post-tow — through a variety of media. Second, the OAG can support legislation in New York State that would bring New York’s towing laws in line with those around the country. Third, the OAG can play a role specifically in curbing constitutional lawsuits against municipal impound policies.

Towing is a unique consumer protection issue.⁸ Unlike other consumer protection issues, towing concerns the wrongful deprivation of property, rather than wrongful provision of property (e.g., for-profit colleges, fake charities, etc.). Moreover, as a nonvoluntary exchange, consumers do not have equal bargaining power and are at an informational disadvantage. For example, a consumer education website is of limited utility when a vehicle is taken away in front of your eyes. Due to the issue’s sporadic nature, there is no reason for consumers to self-educate. Setting aside the impediments to consumer education, this same immediacy and rarity impact the utility of the laws themselves. The strongest consumer protection laws on the books are paper tigers if unenforced. Therefore, robust enforcement is required for towing consumer protection laws to be meaningful.

From Top to Tow: Looking at Towing Laws Around the Country

State towing laws around the country are subject to marked variation.⁹ Texas has a notably robust set of towing laws.¹⁰ Several states in the past few years have overhauled their towing laws, typically as a reaction to some publicized towing industry abuse. For example, after complaints and public concern grew over towing on residential property, Colorado passed a sweeping “Towing Bill of Rights” in 2022.¹¹ Legislative changes to towing regimes also occur on a smaller scale. As will be discussed in more detail later, in 2023 New Jersey adopted a towing provision in response to lienholder lawsuits.¹² That same year, the New York State Legislature passed a bill requiring towers to pick up post-accident debris without additional compensation following controversy over crash debris in Long Island.¹³ Whether a state takes a methodical or piecemeal approach to addressing consumer protection concerns meaningfully impacts the effectiveness of such legislation.

Furthermore, there is limited comparative data of towing regulations across the country, making analysis challenging. The only survey of the topic, a 2021 report by the US Public Interest Research Group Fund, identified 14 provisions it viewed as key to protecting consumers’ interests.¹⁴ With the caveat that localities can provide greater protections than state law, the PIRG report found that: 23 states cap towing rates, 37 states require owner notification of an impound, 18 states require towing companies to charge reduced fees for incomplete tows, 20 states require towing storage facilities to provide access to personal items from the towed vehicle without paying the fees to release the vehicle, and 27 states require reimbursement for unjustified tows.¹⁵

Caught in the Undertow: New York State’s Towing Laws

New York state, often viewed as a leader in passing legislation to protect its citizens, is uninspiring in the area. New York State has three laws pertaining to the regulation of towing: 399-V, 399-X, and 399-XX of the General Business Law.¹⁶ 399-V regulates the towing of motor vehicles from private parking facilities.¹⁷ 399-X requires commercial towers and storage facilities to accept credit cards if they normally do so as part of their course of business.¹⁸ 399-XX states that a “commercial tower who responds to a call for assistance from an owner or operator of a vehicle that is inoperable or cannot be safely operated or who offers to transport, repair, or render safely operable such a vehicle shall, in compliance with any reasonable request of an owner or operator of such vehicle, repair the vehicle or transport the vehicle and its occupants to a reasonably safe location where repairs can be made.”¹⁹ Two of the provisions specifically exempt New York City, which has its own towing regulation regime.²⁰ The attorney general is empowered to enforce these laws concurrently with municipalities.²¹ These towing laws, compared to other states, are scant. PIRG found New York to have 2 out of its 14 recommended protections.²² At least one other report has found New York to be among the top 10 states with most reported predatory incidents relative to mileage, and a national database that grades states’ and municipalities’ towing laws gave New York State a “D-.”²³

Tow Jam: The Preemption Issue

New York’s towing laws were last amended prior to 2010.²⁴ One explanation for New York State’s sparse towing regulations is that they were written in the shadow of a federal preemption regime that made state and local authority to regulate towing uncertain, and therefore more conservative. Under the Federal Aviation Authorization Act of 1994, Congress prevented states and their political subdivisions from regulating the price, route, or service of a motor carrier, which was interpreted as including tow truck operators.²⁵ The preemptive effect of this law was limited through amendments that slightly broadened the towing activities that states and their political subdivisions could regulate, and an exception that allowed states and their political subdivisions to regulate towing for safety reasons.²⁶ States and localities used this safety exception as justification to pass laws to regulate nonconsensual towing, leading to litigation as to its scope.²⁷ Case law is littered with these preemption challenges. The issue reached the Supreme Court twice, in City of Columbus v. Ours Garage and Wrecker Service, Inc., 536 U.S. 424, 122 S. Ct. 2226, 153 L. Ed. 2d 430 (2002) and Dan’s City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey, 569 U.S. 251, 133 S. Ct. 1769 (2013). In both cases, the Supreme Court ruled against the towing companies, upholding the ordinances.²⁸ Such results are common in towing cases generally, with the federal judiciary reluctant to find preemption.²⁹

Federal preemption issues towered above state and local governments’ ability to regulate towing until 2015, when the “State and Local Predatory Towing Enforcement Act” removed state and local government regulation of nonconsensual towing from the scope of federal preemption.³⁰ This leaves federal preemption primarily as a historical note, but does bear on how many current ordinances at the state and local level are shaped. New York’s towing laws were last modified well before the 2015 act. If New York’s tepid towing laws arose from worry about preemption challenges, that worry is no longer relevant .

Going Tow-to-Tow: Auto Finance Lawsuits Against Municipalities

Since the end of federal preemption concerns, a new avenue in towing litigation has since opened. Within the past few years, there has been a wave of lawsuits filed by vehicle lienholders against municipalities and towing companies, alleging due process violations following the nonconsensual seizure of a vehicle. Without performing an exhaustive survey, it is difficult to assess how widespread this issue is, but the lawsuits, concentrated in the Northeast, appear to be spreading.³¹

Some background on how municipalities handle towing services is necessary to understand the incentives driving these lawsuits. There are multiple ways municipalities can provide for towing services, which can depend on the type of road in question, the reason for the tow, and the resources of the municipality. First, the municipality can provide towing services “in-house” with their own tow vehicles.³² Second, they can contract their towing needs to a specific towing company or a list of qualified towing companies.³³ Third, a municipality can take a hybrid approach, where some tows could be specifically contracted out (e.g., evidentiary tows or tows of city-owned vehicles), some could be conducted as part of rotational towing programs, and some could be conducted with city-owned vehicles.³⁴ In the latter two approaches, the locality does not have to pay for the towing services, saving taxpayer dollars. Instead, the owner/operator of the vehicle pays the towing company. If the owner/operator of the vehicle does not pay the fees, many of these policies allow the tow company to take possession of the vehicle and then auction it.³⁵

Auto finance companies, faced with a bill for towing and storage fees for a vehicle they held a lien on, have sued municipalities alleging unconstitutional impound policies. The basic argument, provided by the attorney who has brought many of these suits, goes like this: “…decades after the cases establishing due process rights for impounded vehicles, many municipalities (and even some states) continue to get the issue fundamentally wrong. Across the country, statutes and ordinances remain on the books that do not provide for any notice of impound, or provide notice to only some of the people to whom notice is required, or provide notice only that the municipality has a list of demands, as opposed to providing notice of a procedure for recovering a vehicle.”³⁶ Auto finance companies have sought damages as well as revisions to the notice and hearing requirements of local impound policies.³⁷

Stubbed Tows: Municipalities Have Been Losing Auto Finance Towing Litigation in New York

These suits have been successful in New York.³⁸ In Santander Consumer USA, Inc. v. City of Yonkers, No. 20-CV-4553 (KMK), 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164416 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 12, 2022), for example, the City of Yonkers was ordered to revise its municipal code to provide notice of towing or removal, as well as an opportunity to be heard, to any party with a property interest in the vehicle.³⁹ This includes lienholders for any tow conducted for “non-payment of parking tickets or other violations of law or Code.” In Santander Consumer USA, Inc. v. Cnty. of Nassau, 623 F. Supp. 3d 6 (E.D.N.Y. 2022), summary judgment was granted in another lienholder suit to that same auto financing company regarding a scofflaw tow⁴⁰ in Nassau County.⁴¹ In Toyota Lease Tr. v. Vill. of Freeport, No. 20-CV-2207, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12329, at *38-39 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 24, 2023), the court granted declaratory relief against the Village of Freeport’s hearing policies as applied to scofflaw tows, requiring Freeport to revise its towing policies to provide for constitutional notice. In TD Auto Fin. LLC v. Cnty. of Putnam, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173026 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 27, 2023), a declaratory judgement required the County of Putnam to revise policies to provide for due process protections extended to all interested parties at every relevant stage, including “prompt notice to any lienholders” following the impound of vehicles connected with felony arrests.

Another one of these cases, Santander Consumer USA, Inc. v. Cnty. of Suffolk, No. 23-CV-05308, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191821 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 25, 2023), is currently in discovery in the Eastern District of New York.⁴² Newsday reported that on February 18, 2024, three more of these lawsuits were filed against the City of Long Beach in Nassau County.⁴³ Due to the patchwork of cases, there exists no consensus over exactly what pre- or post-deprivation notice and/or hearings localities in New York should require. However, there appears to be growing consensus in the 2^nd Circuit that these claims have merit.

There is (as of today) no case this author has seen where a locality has won against one of these constitutional challenges, in New York or elsewhere.⁴⁴ Lienholder lawsuits are a loss for all involved. Localities fruitlessly spend taxpayer dollars on litigation that a growing body of case law suggests that they will lose, lenders and consumers are unconstitutionally deprived of a chance to contest the deprivation of their property, and towers are caught up in litigation over practices that they believe pursuant to law. The OAG could play a role in stopping these abuses from occurring in the first place, which would abrogate the need for this litigation, protect consumers’ rights, and save taxpayer dollars.

A Tow in the Door: Attorney General Enforces Towing Regulations in New York

Enforcing towing laws is an accepted part of an attorney general’s consumer affairs practice across the country, and a duty specifically prescribed to the OAG in New York.⁴⁵ The OAG’s most recent enforcement action was in 2023. The OAG sued and prevailed over a Poughkeepsie, New York tower alleged to have performed unjustified tows and engaged in deceptive business practices, among other claims. The court order required the tower to pay restitution to customers, pay $20,000 to the state in penalties, and secure a $100,000 bond if the tower seeks to continue in the towing industry.⁴⁶ The case originated out of complaints made by consumers to the OAG’s Poughkeepsie Regional Office.⁴⁷ However, the OAG’s ability to enforce towing regulations is weakened if there are few towing regulations to enforce.⁴⁸ The OAG could support greater enforcement of New York State’s towing laws through (1) supporting legislation to bolster New York State’s protections for consumers, and (2) investing in consumer education regarding current rights under New York law.

Keeping On One’s Tows: Attorney General Can Help Strengthen State Towing Regulations in New York

The OAG could support stronger statewide legislation, especially since the 2015 abrogation of the federal preemption concern. This avenue is limited as, due to the wide variety in towing laws across the nation, significant research and outreach would need to be conducted. However, the OAG could provide support in this arena, as they do in other states. For example, Vermont is currently revamping their towing laws. As part of this effort, the Vermont Attorney General’s office was directed to conduct a survey of motor vehicle towing practices, which was released in January 2024.⁴⁹ The Colorado Office of the Attorney General has had an appointed seat on the state’s Towing Task Force, an entity created to study the issue of towing and periodically issue recommendations, since 2021.⁵⁰

Consumer Education

Currently, the OAG appears to provide no consumer education regarding towing rights, unlike other states.⁵¹ While it may be of limited use for a consumer who suddenly finds their vehicle being towed, public information about towing rights could be important both for consumers considering challenging their tow post-deprivation, as well as for raising awareness of wrongful towing as an issue.

Lienholder Lawsuits

Given that many of the previously discussed lienholder lawsuits are against localities in New York State, the OAG has a vested interest in preventing consumer abuse and the waste of taxpayer dollars in lawsuits of dubious merit. The OAG could help resolve this issue by supporting legislation to address notice and hearing rights on a state level. The OAG could also encourage or sponsor legislation to put a stop to unconstitutional notice and/or hearing practices. In August 2023, New Jersey adopted a unique provision addressing these lienholder lawsuits.⁵² P.L. 2023, c. 132 requires towing companies to provide notice to all interested parties (including the owner, lessor(s), and lienholder(s)) within 30 days. If such notice is not provided, fees are capped at $750.⁵³ If combined with consumer education, OAG encouragement of statewide legislation could be the most fruitful of these options. It would address practices of localities across New York State in one fell swoop.⁵⁴

Conclusion

The New York OAG is in a particularly ripe position to address towing in New York: the current laws are weak and there has been a wave of lawsuits against towing practices across the state. Such activity should focus on consumer education, guidance for localities regarding lienholder lawsuits, and legislative advocacy. Predatory towing is an issue that, due to its nature, flies under the radar and rarely foments organized advocacy. It is into this void that the OAG should step in and provide order, guidance, and increased public trust.

Grace Getman, J.D. Class of 2025, N.Y.U. School of Law.

Suggested Citation: Grace Getman, Taking an Industry in Tow: The Role of the New York Attorney General in Enforcing State Towing Laws, N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol’y Quorum (2024).

1
Press Release, PA Office of Attorney General, AG Shapiro Takes On Predatory Towing Companies, Secures Money For Consumers Across Pennsylvania (April 20, 2022), https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/ag-shapiro-takes-on-predatory-towing-companies-secures-money-for-consumers-across-pennsylvania.
2
Id.
3
Id.
4
U.S. Dep’t of Transp., Review of Federal & State Laws Regarding Vehicle Towing 1 (2006) [hereinafter Review].
5
Id.
6
Ann Carrns, Beware of Car Towing Companies That Patrol Private Parking Lots, N.Y. Times (May 7, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/your-money/car-tow-companies-fees.html.
7
Jonathan Valania, Lew Blum, the Tow-Truck King Philly Loves to Hate, Needs a Hug, Phil. Mag. (May 5, 2019), https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/05/11/lew-blum-towing-philadelphia/ (“Nothing enrages us more than taking away something that belongs to us, especially our cars, which in America is tantamount to stealing our eternal souls.”)
8
While different terms have been used, towing can be broken down into several categories. Consensual towing is the towing that occurs after a vehicle breaks down, is involved in an accident, or is otherwise disabled and the owner voluntarily reaches out to a tower. Regulating voluntary towing is preempted by 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c) (2015) and as such lies outside of this post. Nonconsensual towing is any tow conducted against the owner’s wishes, and that state and local governments are permitted to regulate under § 14501(c)(2)(C). This can include evidentiary tows (tows conducted when a vehicle is part of a police investigation), trespass tows (tows of vehicles illegally parked on private property) (labeled by critics as “predatory tows”), abandoned vehicle tows, scofflaw tows (labeled as “poverty tows” by critics), and post-accident tows. This post discusses post-accident tows, trespass tows, and scofflaw tows.
9
Grace Brombach, Getting Off the Hook of a Predatory Tow (2019), https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/getting-off-the-hook-of-a-predatory-tow-2; Telvent Farradyne, Scanning Tour of Innovative Towing Programs 29 (2007).
10
In fact, of the few law review articles located about towing law, two of them are centered on Texas’s towing regime specifically. See Brian E. Walters et al., Licensed to Steal: Texas Private Property Towing Regulation & Consumer Remedies, 56 S. Tex. L. Rev. 509 (2015); Michael Shirk, Federal Preemption Under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, 17 Tex. Tech. Admin. L. J. 57 (2015).
11
See H.B. 22-1314, 2022 Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Colo. 2022). See also Matt Bloom, We answered your questions about Colorado’s Towing Bill of Rights law, CPR News (Jan. 9, 2023), https://www.cpr.org/2023/01/09/colorado-towing-bill-of-rights-law-questions-answered/; Marissa Armas, New Colorado towing law gives more rights to citizens, CBS News (Aug. 12, 2022), https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/new-colorado-towing-law-rights-citizens.
12
N.J. Rev. Stat. § 56:13-16 (2023).
13
S. 5430, 2023-2024 Leg. Sess. (N.Y. 2023); see also Lauren Canavan, Bellone signs law requiring tow crews to clean up crash debris from streets, Long Island News (Nov. 2, 2022), https://www.wshu.org/long-island-news/2022-11-02/bellone-signs-law-requiring-tow-crews-to-clean-up-crash-debris-from-streets [https://perma.cc/5Y95-G5YZ]. Hochul vetoed the legislation, arguing that requiring towers to internalize the costs of cleaning debris would make it difficult for the state and localities to procure towing services. Memorandum from Gov. Kathy Hochul to the NY Senate (Dec. 22, 2023), https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24252102-hochul-veto-140-2023.
14
Brombach, supra note 9.
15
Id.
16
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 399-V (2008), 399-X, 399-XX.
17
§ 399-V(2)–(4).
18
§ 399-X (2) (2008).
19
§ 399-XX (2).
20
§ 399-X (4), § 399-V(5).
21
§ 399-X (3)(a-b)( “…an application may be made by the attorney general…to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue an injunction…to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violations; and…an injunction may be issued by such court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation, without requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. In any such proceeding the court may make allowances to the attorney general as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of this section has occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not less than fifty dollars and not more than one thousand dollars for each such violation. …[T]he attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules.”); § 399-XX (3); § 399-V(4)(a)–(b).
22
Brombach, supra note 9.
23
American Transportation Research Institute, Causes and Countermeasures of Predatory Towing 1, 29 (Nov. 2023), https://truckingresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ATRI-Causes-and-Countermeasures-of-Predatory-Towing-11-2023.pdf.
24
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 399-V, 399-XX, 399-X.
25
49 U.S.C. § 14501(c).
26
Review, supra note 4, at 1-13; see also James Lockhart, Preemptive Effect of Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, 49 U.S.C.A. §§ 14501(c), 41713(b)(4), 29 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 563 (2008).
27
Review, supra note 4, at 10-12.
28
Lockhart, supra note 26.
29
Id.
30
49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(2)(C). See also Shirk, supra note 10, at 81.
31
Charles Toutant, Where’s My Car? Litigation Surges as Auto-Finance Companies Sue Over Towing, N.J.L.J. (Jan. 12, 2023), https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/2023/01/12/wheres-my-car-litigation-surges-as-auto-finance-companies-sue-over-towing/.
32
Due to the expense of towing vehicles and the labor involved, municipally-operated towing programs appear to be unusual. For example, Pittsburgh operated its own towing operations until 2009, when they were privatized to save expenses. See Jeremy Boren, Pittsburgh privatizes towing, pound moving to Mt. Washington, Trib Total Media (Dec. 22, 2009), https://archive.triblive.com/news/pittsburgh-privatizes-towing-pound-moving-to-mt-washington.
33
For example, the City of Scranton contracts through a rotating list of 15 towing companies. Scranton City Code § 439-35.
34
For example, New York City has numerous towing programs, including the Directed Accident Towing Program (“DARP”) (post-accident tows), Rotation Tow Program (“ROTOW”) (stolen or abandoned vehicles, private property tows), the Arterial Towing Program (highway and major expressway tows) and the Evidence Vehicle Program (evidentiary tows). Tows can also be conducted by the NYPD, the city marshal, and the sheriff. NYC Consumer and Worker Prot., Towing Services Guide, https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/consumers/shopping-services-towing.page. While its regulations go further than New York State’s, New York City’s towing industry has faced mob and other corruption allegations for decades. https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/10/10/tow-truck-mob-city-hall-eric-adams-ulrich.
35
Toutant, supra note 31.
36
Nicholas A. Duston, Due Process and Vehicle Impound, Westlaw Today (April 13, 2021), https://today.westlaw.com/Document/I35c44ca59c9c11ebbea4f0dc9fb69570/View/FullText.html?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&VR=3.0&RS=cblt1.0.
37
Toutant, supra note 31.
38
Lienholder towing lawsuits only concern tows conducted for nonconsensual tows unrelated to accidents. While post-accident tows are nonconsensual tows, there is presumably little reason to have concerns about notice.
39
The updated municipal code is currently online.
40
Scofflaw tows refer to those performed due to multiple unpaid traffic violations.
41
The court did not order the revision of county policies in this decision.
42
Information is current as of September 20, 2024.
43
Ted Phillips, Suit accuses Long Beach of illegally seizing cars with outstanding tickets, Newsday (Feb. 18, 2024), https://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/long-beach-tow-policy-lawsuit-j22v4qqy.
44
See, e.g., Am. Honda Fin. Corp. v. City of Revere, 471 F. Supp. 3d 399 (D. Mass. 2020); Am. Honda Fin. Corp. v. Twp. of Aston, 546 F. Supp. 3d 371 (E.D. Pa. 2021).
45
N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 399-V(4)(a), 399-X(a), 399-XX(3).
46
Press Release, Office of the New York State Attorney General, Attorney General James Scores Court Victory Against Predatory Towing Company in Poughkeepsie (June 1, 2023), https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2023/attorney-general-james-scores-court-victory-against-predatory-towing-company [https://perma.cc/6EX2-BEXW].
47
Id.
48
The biggest update to New York State’s towing laws come from two New York City legislators, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and State Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, who have proposed authorizing liens against towers that engage in illegal and improper practices in bills dating back to the 2019-2020 legislative session. The memo for Hoylman-Sigal’s version of the bill argues that “[c]learly the existing complaint process is insufficient to deter these predatory towing companies from continuing to take advantage of unsuspecting motorists,” given that “only after they get their vehicle back that they realize that they have been taken advantage of and laws have been violated.” S. 0698, 205th Leg., 2021—2022 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2021) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?term=2021&bn=S00698 [https://perma.cc/JK79-34E6]. Support has fluctuated for the bill. The 2017-2018 version of the bill, sponsored by Dinowitz, had no Senate companion, and 21 co-sponsors/multi-sponsors. Assemb. 10240, 202nd Leg., 2018—2019 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2018) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A10240&term=2017 [https://perma.cc/7RAP-X6TP]. The 2019-2020 version saw Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal’s introduction of the bill in the other chamber, making the legislation viable. It had 18 co-sponsors/multi-sponsors in the Assembly, but none in the Senate. Assemb. 2593, 203rd Leg., 2019—2020 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2019) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A02593&term=2019 [https://perma.cc/SXL7-HF7U]; S. 6067, 203rd Leg., 2019—2020 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2019) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?term=2019&bn=S06067 [https://perma.cc/D8MC-HSAU]. The next legislative session saw Dinowitz and Hoylman-Sigal continue to introduce the bill in their respective chambers, with 15 multi-sponsors/co-sponsors in the Assembly, and still none in the Senate. S. 0698; Assemb. 1041, 203rd Leg., 2019—2020 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2019) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?term=2021&bn=A01041 [https://perma.cc/FT3G-YDV9]. The 2023-2024 session continued in the same vein, with Dinowitz’s Assembly version dropping down to 8 co-sponsors and Hoylman-Sigal’s still alone. Assemb. 0834, 207th Leg., 2023—2024 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2023) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A00834&term=2023 [https://perma.cc/F9B8-9F9W]; S. 3265, 207th Leg., 2023—2024 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2023) https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?term=2023&bn=S03265 [https://perma.cc/22J9-YTZ6].
49
Office of the Vermont Att’y Gen., Report On Towing Practices in Vermont in Accordance with Act 41 (Jan. 30, 2024), available at https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/2024-02/2024-01-30%20Towing%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf [https://perma.cc/NM7T-YKMY].
50
Colorado Towing Task Force, Towing Task Force Report (Oct. 26, 2022) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mLovFrZguJecjYOVT_st9h9NHy-MnV_F/view [https://perma.cc/KD2H-AH75].
51
See, e.g., Georgia Att’y Gen.’s Consumer Prot. Div., Towing (2024), https://consumer.georgia.gov/consumer-topics/towing [https://perma.cc/LVQ5-R7GR]; State of Michigan Atty. Gen., Michigan’s Towing Laws – What You Need to Know (2024), https://www.michigan.gov/consumerprotection/protect-yourself/consumer-alerts/auto/towing [https://perma.cc/X89W-E5UK].
52
N.J. Rev. Stat. § 56:13-16 (2023).
53
This amount appears to roughly correlate to a 2-4 weeks of storage fees.
54
For discussion of how the New Jersey law impacts municipalities, see Paul Penna, New Law Amends Predatory Towing Prevention Act, New Jersey State League of Municipalities (Aug. 11, 2023), https://www.njlm.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2692&ARC=3290 [https://perma.cc/6JWX-HF9A].