TowingBossPro Blog — Impound & Storage

Running Private Property Impounds From Call to Release

Private property impounds are some of the most profitable and most scrutinized work a towing company does. The owner of the car did not ask you to tow it, is not happy you did, and will look for any mistake in how you handled it. The work has to be clean from the first call to the moment the keys go out.

Using Your Storage Lot as the Drop-Off Address on a Tow Call showed how the drop-off ties a call to your lot. This article walks through a private property impound end to end.

Start With the Rules That Apply to You

Before anything else: private property towing is regulated in many places, and the rules differ by state, county and city. They can cover signage, who may authorize a tow, what you must record, who must be notified, how quickly, and what you can charge for the tow and for storage. Some places cap fees. Some require specific paperwork.

Nothing in this article replaces knowing your local law. Get the ordinances, talk to your attorney if you need to, and build your process around what applies to you. Software helps you follow your process consistently. It does not decide what the process must be.

The Call From the Property

Most private property work comes from property managers: apartment complexes, shopping centers, office parks, HOAs. In TowingBossPro a property manager is a commercial account, and the calls and invoices for that account live under it. When the manager calls in a vehicle, the call is created under their account with the pickup at their property and the drop-off at your storage lot.

Record who authorized the tow and anything your local rules require you to note. Custom fields are useful here for the details your area cares about.

Confirm the call with the property before the truck rolls when your process calls for it. A manager who calls in a plate and then realizes it belongs to a new resident would much rather you hear that before the hook than after. A two-minute call back costs far less than a release with an angry resident and an embarrassed manager.

At the Vehicle

The driver arrives, confirms the vehicle against what was called in, and records the details on the call: year, make, model, color, plate and VIN. Then the photo set, before the hook: all four corners, existing damage, the plate, and the vehicle in the spot where it was parked. For private property work, a photo showing where the car was relative to the posted signage is often worth taking.

If the owner shows up before the tow is complete, follow your local rules on what happens next. Update the call to match what actually happened.

Drivers on private property work should also expect to be watched. Residents come out, take videos and ask questions. Train drivers to stay calm, stay polite and let the photos and the call record do the talking. A driver who argues in a parking lot at 1 a.m. creates the complaint that the rest of the process was designed to prevent.

Into the Lot

When the vehicle reaches your yard, it gets its storage start date and daily storage rate, inside whatever limits apply locally. From that point the software counts the storage days and adds them to the invoice. Tag the vehicle as a private property impound if that helps your reporting and lookups.

When the Owner Calls

The owner will call, usually within hours. With the call tied to the property manager's account and the vehicle details on file, the office can confirm the car is here, explain what it takes to get it out and when the lot is open. Automated texts and two-way texting let you send the details in writing, which cuts down on repeat calls and arguments about who said what.

Release

At release, the invoice already has the tow and the storage days on it. Verify the person is entitled to the vehicle under your policy and local rules, collect payment before the keys go out, and walk them to the car with the pickup photos ready if a damage question comes up.

Private property impounds reward companies that do it the same careful way every time. See how the pieces fit on the Impound & Storage Software page. Next: police impounds and municipal accounts.

Afterward, check that the record is closed: invoice paid, vehicle out of storage. Private property impounds tend to turn over quickly, so a lot that skips this step ends up with a list full of cars that left days ago.