Towed from a Private Lot
ORC 4513.601 — no officer, a sign, and a statute most people never hear about
This is the other kind of tow, and it is a different chapter from the one about an impound after an arrest. Here nobody was arrested, no officer decided anything, and the car left because a property owner and a towing service arranged it. Ohio regulates that arrangement in detail, and almost none of the detail is common knowledge.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
A private tow away zone is not simply a lot somebody wants cleared. It is established by posting a sign at least eighteen inches by twenty four inches, visible from every entrance to the property, stating that the property is a tow away zone and describing who is allowed to park there.
- On residential property the sign may say that only tenants and guests may park, on the owner's terms.
- Where it is not otherwise apparent who may park there, the sign has to carry the property's address, or the name of the business on it.
- The vehicle has to go somewhere recoverable within twenty linear miles of the zone, unless that is not practicable.
Your belongings are not collateral, and this is the line most people never hear. On presentation of proof of ownership, which the statute says may be a certificate of title, a certificate of registration, or a lease agreement, the owner of a towed vehicle may retrieve personal items from it without retrieving the vehicle and without paying any fee. The property in the car and the bill for the tow are two separate things.
- A storage facility holding vehicles towed under these sections must post a notice at its entrance, conspicuously, with a telephone number.
- That number is for finding out whether a vehicle or personal items can be retrieved while the facility is closed.
- A process has to be in place for answering it at all times, day or night.
When the owner does collect the vehicle, the towing service or storage facility is required to hand over written notice that an owner who disputes whether the tow was lawful may be able to bring a civil action. That notice is not a courtesy. It is part of what the statute requires them to do.
The civil action runs against the towing service or the storage facility for a violation of these sections. It is a case about their conduct, brought by the vehicle owner, and it is a separate question from any dispute with the property owner about whether the car should have been there.
A police ordered tow off private property is a third thing again. A sheriff or chief of police can order a vehicle left on private residential or private agricultural property without permission into storage. That is its own section, with its own procedure, and it is not the private tow away zone route even though the car ends up in the same yard.
Fees, storage rates and local licensing of tow operators vary and are not set out here. What is set out is the part of the arrangement the state wrote rules about, because that is the part a person can check against what actually happened.
Sources for this section (4)
- ORC 4513.601 — Private tow-away zones, the sign, and what the towing service owes
- ORC 4513.69 — Storage facilities, business hours, and the notice at the entrance
- ORC 4513.60 — Vehicle left on private residential or agricultural property without permission
- ORC 4513.611 — Civil action against a towing service or storage facility
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.