Private Parking Enforcement Laws by State and Province

In most US states and Canadian provinces, we found no statute that addresses private bills for breaking posted parking rules; such a bill is generally treated as a contract claim based on the signs. A few places write rules for it: Florida expressly authorizes private parking charges in §715.075, and California's Vehicle Code §21107.8 provides for them only where a city or county opts in. Towing from private property, on the other hand, is regulated nearly everywhere, usually with sign, notice, and fee rules, and booting ranges from licensed statewide to banned. The table below gives a one-line status for all 50 states, DC, and the ten provinces, with links to our detail pages.

This is a research summary as of October 2026. Laws change, and local ordinances add rules on top of state law. An attorney who practices where a lot sits can say how these rules apply to it.

Three ways jurisdictions handle private parking enforcement

Nearly every place we looked at falls into one of three regimes. Many states combine more than one, because a state can leave citations alone while regulating towing closely.

Private citation as a contract claim

This is the default in most of the US and Canada. The entrance sign states the terms, parking means accepting them, and a notice on the windshield is a bill for breaking them. We found no state statute in these places that creates the right or takes it away. The factors that commonly come up in disputes over these claims, such as sign clarity, evidence, and the amount, are covered in can private companies issue parking tickets. Florida is the version of this regime with written rules: its statute authorizes the charge and then dictates the sign wording, a 15-minute grace period, invoice timing, an appeal to a neutral third party, and late-fee limits.

Municipal-authorized private enforcement

In some places, the law ties private notices to authorization by a local government. California is the clearest case. The Attorney General concluded in Opinion 07-804 that private owners cannot create citation authority with signs, and Vehicle Code §21107.8 now lets a city or county authorize private lot operators to issue parking invoices, with a third-party dispute process and a fee cap tied to municipal fines. Ontario works differently but lands in a similar spot: some municipalities let by-law officers ticket on private property at the owner's request. Virginia's §46.2-1231 addresses ticketing, towing, and booting by lot owners together and lets localities replace its sign rule with their own ordinance.

Tow and boot rules only

Most state legislatures have written about the physical remedies and nothing else. Colorado's C.R.S. 40-10.1-405 requires fresh owner permission for every tow, photos before hookup, and 24-hour windshield notice before most residential tows. Georgia's statute limits booting to places where a local ordinance authorizes it, and since January 1, 2026 the state caps the boot fee at $75 per day for passenger vehicles. In these states we found no statute on the citation itself, while the tow and the boot are regulated. The tradeoffs between those tools are covered in booting vs. towing.

United States: state-by-state status

"No private-citation statute found" means we did not find a statute that authorizes or regulates private parking citations. It is not a statement that private notices are permitted or prohibited there, and it does not mean the state lacks towing law; most states have a private-property towing statute we have not yet summarized.

Canada: province-by-province status

Canadian private parking enforcement generally rests on contract and trespass law, with towing regulated provincially or by municipal bylaw. Our Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia guides cover the details for those provinces.

Patterns across the states we have covered

Sign specifications vary widely. California's §22658 calls for tow signs of at least 17 by 22 inches with one-inch letters at every entrance. North Carolina's G.S. 20-219.2 calls for at least 24 by 24 inches, though only in the counties and cities the statute names. Michigan's MCL 257.252k sets 2-inch letters, one notice per 100 feet of frontage where there are no curbs, the bottom of the sign at least 4 feet off the ground, and 24 hours of posting before a tow. Florida's §715.07 calls for light-reflective letters and "tow-away zone" in 4-inch letters. A sign that meets one state's statute may not meet another's, which is why we keep a separate guide to parking lot signage for enforcement.

Timing rules vary just as much. Minnesota's §168B.04 permits an immediate tow from properly posted nonresidential property but sets a 24-hour wait if it is not posted. California's §22953 bars towing from free public lots within one hour of parking. Colorado's statute requires 24 hours of windshield notice before most residential tows. Massachusetts' c. 266 §120D requires that parking was forbidden directly or by posted notice, and that police be notified, before any tow. Oregon's ORS 98.812 lets the owner have an unlawfully parked vehicle towed and gives the tower a lien, subject to notice requirements.

Two ideas show up again and again in recent laws: a requirement that the property owner request each tow or boot (no patrolling by the tow company), and a ban on money flowing from the tow or boot company to the property owner. Colorado and Georgia have both, and Florida bans paying for the privilege of towing from a particular lot. Release rules are converging too: statutes commonly provide that a driver who returns before the vehicle leaves gets it back for a reduced fee or none.

How we research a state we have not covered

1. We search the state code for "private property" with "tow" or "removal." Most states have a section on towing from private property, often in the vehicle code or the property title.
2. We search for "immobilization" or "boot" to see whether the state licenses booting, limits it, or leaves it to localities.
3. We check the attorney general's opinions and consumer pages for private parking charges.
4. We read the city and county code for towing permits, sign approval, booting ordinances, and rate caps.
5. A local attorney can say how the results apply to a particular lot, citation, tow, or boot.

How we built this table

We read statutes and official sources for each line that names a law, and we wrote detail pages for the states and provinces with the most private parking activity. Where we could not confirm a statute quickly from an official or reliable legal source, we used the default line rather than guess. Statutes are cited as of October 2026. If you know of a law we missed, tell us and we will check it.

Software can carry some of the record-keeping. Lotably keeps photo evidence and timestamps on every citation. Booting and towing records start switched off in Lotably and are turned on when the operator asks. Lotably does not check whether booting or towing is allowed where an operator enforces; the operator is responsible for following the law and assumes all risk of using them.