Montgomery County’s Law Targeting ‘Predatory Towing’ Goes Into Effect

New law bans tow truck company "spotters," requires private parking lot owners to register with county government

By Aaron Kraut

A car gets towed from a Bethesda parking lot during a Today show segment on aggressive towing practices Today show

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: