Your car was towed from private property in Tempe
If your car was towed from a lot, apartment, or HOA in Tempe, here is what the operator can charge and what the law requires.
What Arizona law says
A trespass tow off a lot, apartment, or HOA is a separate regime from a police impound, and the fees are different. In Phoenix, City Code 36-6 caps the total tow charge at $105 for a vehicle that reached storage, storage at $12 a day, a load-and-unload where you demand release before the vehicle leaves at $20, and a load, transport, and unload where you demand release in transit at $40. The operator may not hold your car as security for the charges or require security as a condition of release, though they can ask for ID for billing. Under ARS 9-499.05, a lot must be posted with clear signs that state the parking restrictions, what happens to a vehicle in violation, the maximum cost to you including storage, and a phone number and address where the car can be found.
How it works in Tempe
- 1 Confirm it was a trespass tow, not police
A tow off a lot, apartment, or HOA is a private-property tow, a different regime from a police impound. If police ordered it, the $150 state fee and the 20-day hold apply instead. Which one you are in changes everything, including the price.
- 2 Find the car through the required sign or police
Under ARS 9-499.05, the lot must post a sign with the phone number and address where the vehicle can be found. The tower must also phone police within one hour of the tow (ARS 28-4836), so the police non-emergency line can trace it if the sign is missing.
- 3 Know the Phoenix caps
In Phoenix, City Code 36-6 caps the total tow at $105 for a car that reached storage and storage at $12 a day. Release demanded before the car leaves its spot is capped at $20; release demanded in transit at $40. Outside Phoenix, ask which city ordinance sets the rate.
- 4 Do not let them hold the car for the bill
Under City Code 36-6, the operator may not hold your vehicle as security for the charges or require security as a condition of release. They can ask for ID for billing. If they refuse to release a paid-up car, note it.
- 5 Check the signage
A compliant ARS 9-499.05 sign must state the parking restrictions, what happens to a vehicle in violation, the maximum cost including storage, and a phone and address to locate the car. If the lot had no clear sign at the entrance, that is a real basis to dispute the tow.
- 6 Get it moved once it is released
If the car will not start or is not safe to drive after release, we line up a tow or roadside operator who quotes before dispatch. Call (480) 526-9384.
What this looks like around Tempe
Student housing around ASU, apartment complexes, and retail lots across Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler drive private-property tows. Each city sets its own maximum rate under ARS 9-499.05, so a Phoenix 36-6 figure is a guide, not a guarantee here. Ask the operator for the city ordinance the rate comes from.
Tempe runs its impound through the Tempe Police Department and charges the 150-dollar state administrative fee on a police-ordered 20-day hold, but call the department for the current release counter and hours, because the exact address could not be confirmed here. Like every Arizona agency it charges the 150-dollar state administrative fee (ARS 28-3513(B)) on a police-ordered 20-day hold under ARS 28-3511, with storage at the state cap of 25 dollars a day, and you can request a post-storage hearing within 10 days of the notice, held within 5 business days. A private-property tow off a lot is a separate matter: Arizona sets no statewide dollar cap, the city that governs the lot may set the maximum rate, and the lot must be posted with a compliant sign stating the restriction, the maximum cost and a number and address where the car can be located. Call the department that ordered the tow for its release counter and assigned yard.
Tempe holds 180,587 residents and is defined by Arizona State University, which packs the city with a dense, young, student-heavy fleet. That single fact shapes the work: apartment and private-lot tows run high, because students park in shared complexes with tenant rules and permit zones, and game days at Mountain America Stadium and nights on Mill Avenue add event and nightlife tows. The freeway picture is unusually busy for the city's size, with I-10, US 60 and Loops 101 and 202 all meeting here, so interchange crashes are steady in a county that logged 88,094 of them in 2024. Tempe Town Lake brings event parking, and Rural, Broadway and Apache with the light rail carry the rest of the traffic. About 22 percent of the city is Hispanic, so the Spanish version of this site is worth having even though it does not dominate. Heat is the reliable driver of no-starts and dead batteries: 2023 saw 133 days at or above 100 degrees in the metro, and a student's older car left in a lot over a break is a classic dead-battery call. On the legal side, a private-property tow in this part of the metro is capped by the city that governs the lot, and a police-ordered impound runs under the state 20-day law with its 150-dollar fee. The pros we send cover the ASU core, Mill Avenue, Town Lake and the freeway interchanges.
Common Tempe questions
How much can a tow company charge to get my car back in Tempe?
In Phoenix, City Code 36-6 caps the total tow at $105 for a car that reached storage and storage at $12 a day. If you demand release before the car leaves its spot, that is capped at $20; in transit, $40. Outside Phoenix, the city where the lot sits sets its own maximum under ARS 9-499.05, so ask which ordinance the charge comes from.
Can they hold my car until I pay in Tempe?
Under Phoenix City Code 36-6, the operator may not hold your vehicle as security for the charges or require security as a condition of release. They can ask for ID for billing. Once you pay the lawful charge, they must release the car.
The lot had no sign. Does that matter in Tempe?
Yes. Under ARS 9-499.05, a lot is treated as open to public parking unless it is posted with clear signs at each entrance stating the restrictions, the maximum cost, and where to find the car. A missing or non-compliant sign is a real basis to dispute the tow.
What if the tower never told police in Tempe?
Under ARS 28-4836, the tower must phone the police within one hour of the tow, and the agency enters it in the state database within three business days. A tower who fails to notify police forfeits all towing and storage charges and is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.
Related help for Tempe
Private-property tows in the rest of the East Valley area
Need your car towed once it's released in Tempe?
We can't waive the yard's fees. We can line up an operator the moment it clears.