Prohibits towing companies from requiring owners of stolen motor vehicles to pay fee to release vehicles from storage facilities under certain circumstances.

A4271

ASSEMBLY, No. 4271

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits towing companies from requiring owners of
stolen motor vehicles to pay fee to release vehicles from storage facilities
under certain circumstances.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning the release of stolen motor vehicles
by towing companies and amending P.L.2007, c.193.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 10 of P.L.2007,
C.193 (C.56:13-16) is amended to read as follows:

���� 10.� It shall be an unlawful
practice for any private property towing company or for any other towing
company that provides non-consensual towing services:

���� a.���� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2009, c.39)

���� b.��� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2009, c.39)

���� c.���� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2009, c.39)

���� d.��� To give any benefit or
advantage, including a pecuniary benefit, to any person for providing
information about motor vehicles parked for unauthorized purposes on privately
owned property or otherwise in connection with private property towing of motor
vehicles parked without authorization or during a time at which such parking is
not permitted;

���� e.���� To fail, when so
requested by the owner or operator of a vehicle subject to non-consensual
towing, to release a vehicle to the owner or operator that has been, or is
about to be, hooked or lifted but has not actually been moved or removed from
the property when the vehicle owner or operator returns to the vehicle, unless
the vehicle subject to non-consensual towing has been authorized to be towed by
a law enforcement officer of this State, or any political subdivision of the
State, while in the actual performance of the officer's duties and as deemed
appropriate for public safety, or to charge the owner or operator requesting
release of the vehicle an unreasonable or excessive decoupling fee.� Such a fee
shall be presumptively unreasonable and excessive if it exceeds by more than 25
percent, or a different percentage established by the director by regulation,
the usual and customary decoupling fee charged by the towing company for a
vehicle subject to consensual towing, or if it exceeds by more than 50 percent,
or a different percentage established by the director by regulation, the usual
and customary decoupling fee charged for vehicles subject to non-consensual
towing by other private property towing companies operating in the municipality
in which the vehicle was subjected to non-consensual towing;

���� f.� (1)� To charge a fee for a
private property or other non-consensual towing or related storage service not
listed on the schedule of services for which a fee may be charged as
established by the director except as may be permitted by the director by regulation;
or

���� (2)�� To charge an
unreasonable or excessive fee;

���� g.��� To refuse to accept for
payment in lieu of cash or an insurance company check for towing or storage
services a debit card, charge card or credit card if the operator ordinarily
accepts such card at his place of business, unless such refusal is authorized
in accordance with section 4 of P.L.2002, c.67 (C.56:13-4);
[
or
]

���� h.��� To monitor, patrol, or
otherwise surveil a private property for the purposes of identifying vehicles
parked for unauthorized purposes and towing a motor vehicle parked for an
unauthorized purpose from such private property without having been specifically
requested to tow such vehicle by the owner of the property
; or

����
i.���� To directly charge
the owner of a stolen motor vehicle a fee to release the recovered vehicle from
a storage facility if the owner of the recovered vehicle provides a copy of the
stolen vehicle police report to the towing company.�

����
(1)�� If the owner of a
stolen motor vehicle has been contacted by law enforcement regarding the
recovery of the owner�s vehicle, the owner of the recovered vehicle shall have
72 hours to retrieve the vehicle from a storage facility without incurring a
direct fee.� If 72 hours have passed and the owner of the recovered vehicle has
not retrieved the vehicle, the towing company may charge the owner a fee for
the days the vehicle has been kept at the storage facility beyond the 72-hour
period.�

����
(2)�� Notwithstanding
paragraph (1) of this subsection, any fee to release the recovered vehicle from
a storage facility shall be paid by the insurance carrier insuring the vehicle
or, if the vehicle is not insured, by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.�
The insurance carrier of the recovered vehicle may pay the fee to release the
recovered vehicle directly to the towing company or may reimburse the vehicle
owner for the cost
.�

����
[
i.
]

j.
Nothing contained in
any provision of the "Predatory Towing Prevention Act," P.L.2007,
c.193 (C.56:13-7 et seq.) shall be construed to prevent a towing company from
charging a reasonable fee for storage of a vehicle that has been subject to non-consensual
towing authorized by a law enforcement officer of this State or by any
political subdivision of this State.� Nothing contained in any provision of the
"Predatory Towing Prevention Act," P.L.2007, c.193 (C.56:13-7 et
seq.) shall be construed to prevent a towing company from charging fees for
non-consensual towing or related storage services in accordance with a
duly-authorized fee schedule established by a municipality or other political
subdivision of this State with respect to a vehicle that has been subject to
non-consensual towing authorized by a law enforcement officer of this State or
the political subdivision, and there shall be a rebuttable presumption that
fees charged in accordance with a fee schedule are not unreasonable or
excessive.

���� A towing company shall only
require that reasonable fees charged in accordance with a duly authorized fee
schedule established by a municipality or other political subdivision of this
State for towing, authorized by a law enforcement officer of this State or by a
political subdivision of this State, or related storage services be paid by the
operator, owner, lessor, or lienholder of the vehicle prior to the towing
company's release of the vehicle.� In the event the owner or operator of the
vehicle defaults on payments to the lessor or lienholder of the vehicle, the
lessor or lienholder shall be responsible for these reasonable towing and
related storage fees.

���� Notwithstanding the provisions
of P.L.1964, c.81 (C.39:10A-1 et seq.), or any other law, rule, or regulation
to the contrary, a towing company shall notify the operator, owner, lessor, and
lienholder of a vehicle that has been subject to non-consensual towing,
authorized by a law enforcement officer of this State or a political
subdivision of this State, and related storage services within 30 days of the
vehicle being towed and arriving at the towing company lot.� If a towing
company fails to notify the operator, owner, lessor, and lienholder of the
vehicle within 30 days, the towing company may charge a maximum storage fee of
$750, and the towing company shall be responsible for all additional towing or
related storage services.

���� Notwithstanding any provision
of this subsection to the contrary, the maximum liability for storage fees for
matters pending prior to the date of enactment of P.L.2023, c.132, shall not
exceed $5,000.� Towing fees for matters pending prior to the date of enactment
of P.L.2023, c.132 shall not be subject to any fee limitation, provided that
such fees remain reasonable and are charged in accordance with a duly
authorized fee schedule established by a municipality or other political
subdivision of this State.

���� For the purposes of this
subsection, non-consensual towing shall be considered to be authorized by a law
enforcement officer of this State or a political subdivision if the law
enforcement officer or an agent or employee of the political subdivision initiates,
directs, orders, or requests the non-consensual towing of the vehicle; and a
municipal fee schedule shall be considered duly authorized if it has been
established by municipal ordinance or resolution or by contract between the
municipality and the towing company which conforms to the requirements of the
"Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.)
and any related regulations.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.132, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill prohibits towing
companies from requiring the owner of a stolen motor vehicle to pay a fee to
release the vehicle from a storage facility.�

���� With the rise of motor vehicle
thefts in the State, every effort should be made to assist owners in recovering
their stolen vehicles.� Unfortunately, owners facing a financial hardship
cannot pay for the release of a recovered vehicle from a towing company�s
storage facility because they cannot afford the fee charged by the towing
company.� Under this bill, the �Predatory Towing Prevention Act� is amended to
prohibit a towing company from charging this fee to the owner of a stolen motor
vehicle so long as the owner provides a copy of the stolen vehicle police
report to the towing company. �If the owner of a stolen motor vehicle has been
contacted by law enforcement regarding the recovery of the owner�s vehicle, the
owner of the recovered vehicle will have 72 hours to retrieve the vehicle from
a storage facility without incurring a direct fee.� If 72 hours have passed and
the owner of the recovered vehicle has not retrieved the vehicle, the towing
company may charge the owner a fee for the days the vehicle has been kept at
the storage facility beyond the 72-hour period.�

���� Notwithstanding any fee
incurred by the 72-hour requirement, any fee to release the recovered vehicle
from a storage facility will be paid by the insurance carrier insuring the
vehicle or, if the vehicle is not insured, by the State Motor Vehicle
Commission.� The insurance carrier of the recovered vehicle may pay the fee to
release the recovered vehicle directly to the towing company or may reimburse
the vehicle owner for the cost.