Tennessee Private Parking Enforcement Laws: Towing Notice, Booting, and Citations

Tennessee rewrote its private parking rules twice in two years. The current law is the MOTION Act of 2025 (Tenn. Code Title 55, Chapter 31). It caps late penalties for unpaid parking at $50, or $75 after 30 days. It permits towing from a lot open to the public once signs name the tow company, and requires a report to police within one hour of the tow. It makes booting a crime unless a long list of conditions is met, including a self-releasing device and a $75 cap on the removal fee. The Act treats violations as violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and gives drivers a right to sue.

Summary

Tennessee is one of the few states that speaks directly to private parking charges, not just towing. For commercial lots, the statute sets the late fee ceiling, the sign wording, and the booting conditions. The 2024 version of the law (Public Chapter 1017) was replaced in full by Public Chapter 457, which took effect when the Governor signed it in May 2025, according to the General Assembly’s bill history. Older summaries online often describe the 2024 rules, so the date on any summary matters.

Private parking citations and invoices

Section 55-31-203 governs what a commercial parking lot owner can charge when a driver leaves without paying. The statute defines a commercial parking lot as a privately owned lot or garage used for temporary parking, either for a fee or for customers of the owner. The statute permits a penalty for nonpayment only when three things are true:

• Signs at each designated entrance and exit, clearly visible and readable, warn that drivers who leave without paying will owe a penalty if the fee is not paid within 72 hours of the lot discovering the nonpayment.
• The actual parking fee is still unpaid 72 hours after the lot discovered it.
• The penalty is no more than $50 if the fee stays unpaid for 30 days or less, or no more than $75 if it stays unpaid longer.

The same section addresses payment technology failures. If a lot only accepts QR code or card payments and the system is down, the section requires the lot to take cash, check, or card details by phone, or let the driver leave and pay later, and it bars any penalty until at least seven business days have passed. It requires unattended lots to post the alternative payment methods at each place payment is taken, and bars local governments from enacting conflicting rules.

For violations that are not about an unpaid fee, such as parking in a reserved space or overstaying a free customer lot, the statute is silent. Those charges are civil claims based on the posted terms, the contract theory we explain in can private companies issue parking tickets. Section 55-31-103 also ties violations of the chapter to the Consumer Protection Act, as described below.

What signs must say

The MOTION Act sets separate sign rules for each tool, and requires all of them to be clearly visible and readable.

• Late penalties: notice of the 72 hour payment window and the penalty, at each designated entrance and exit (§55-31-203).
• Towing: notice that unauthorized vehicles are subject to towing, at each designated entrance and exit, with the name and phone number of the tow company (§55-31-204).
• Booting: notice that unauthorized vehicles are subject to booting, at each designated entrance and exit, with a phone number answered by a person 24 hours a day, the vendor’s local license number if there is one, and a statement that the law protects consumers and violations can be reported to the attorney general (§55-31-201).
• License plate readers: “LICENSE PLATE READER IN USE” at each designated entrance and on each level of a multi-level lot, before plate reader data is used to enforce the lot’s rules (§55-31-202).

The 2024 law set fixed sizes, such as 6 inch red letters for plate reader signs. The 2025 rewrite replaced those with the clear visibility standard. For wording and placement that drivers actually read, see our guide to parking lot signage for enforcement.

Towing from private property

Section 55-31-204 says no one may tow a vehicle without the vehicle owner’s written authorization unless one of four conditions applies:

• The owner or agent of a commercial lot or other private property open to the public authorized the tow and posted the tow notice described above.
• The property owner authorized the tow of a vehicle unattended for more than 12 hours, or one creating a hazard, blocking access, or parked illegally.
• The owner of private property not open to the public authorized the tow.
• A law enforcement officer requested it.

Under the statute, if the driver shows up before the car leaves its original parking spot and pays a release fee, the tow operator must let it go. When the owner is not present, the statute requires the person towing to report the VIN, plate, description, tow location, and storage location to the local law enforcement agency within one hour. The law told the Department of Revenue to launch a statewide motor vehicle portal by October 1, 2026; 90 days after it is running, those reports move to the portal. We could not confirm the portal’s launch date as of October 2026.

Storage requires the property owner’s express written authorization (§55-31-205). Referral fees are banned both ways: a tow company may not pay a property owner or manager for referring vehicles, and the owner may not ask for or accept payment (§55-31-206).

Booting

Booting a vehicle marked with a USDOT number, or carrying certain commercial truck or trailer plates, is always an offense under §55-31-201(a). The section makes booting any other vehicle an offense unless every one of these conditions is met:

• The boot is a self-releasing device that the driver can remove after paying by card, with clear instructions.
• The car is on a commercial parking lot or on contracted property, meaning a lot whose owner has a contract with a licensed parking enforcement vendor in a city or county that has adopted a licensing ordinance.
• The person attaching it is the lot owner’s employee or a locally licensed booting operator.
• The boot signs described above are posted.
• The driver pays no more than the parking fees owed plus a removal fee of up to $75, and nothing at all if they had paid and were booted by mistake.

The section permits an extra fee of up to $100 if the driver damages the device or fails to return it to a marked drop-off spot on site. It requires local licensing ordinances to include annual licenses, a public registry, a complaint system, and a surety bond of at least $250,000 for each vendor.

The 2024 law disrupted local programs. In June 2024, The Tennessean reported that Metro Nashville would suspend regulated booting from July 1, 2024, because its ordinance conflicted with the new state law, leaving the city’s eight licensed third-party booting companies without valid licenses until the Metro Council acted. For how boots compare with tows, see booting vs. towing.

Fees, caps, and driver remedies

For tows and storage without the vehicle owner’s consent, §55-31-207 bars any fee above the maximum approved by the Tennessee Highway Patrol district, any gate or release fee during normal business hours on a day storage is charged, and any release fee over $100. The section requires advance notice to the owner and lienholders for storage past 21 days, and bars storage charges for days the car was not available for release.

Section 55-31-103 makes a violation of the chapter a violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977, which the attorney general enforces. The section also gives drivers a private right of action for injunctive relief, actual, compensatory, and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. Under the Act, violations of the booting, towing, storage, and referral sections are Class B misdemeanors, and Class A for repeat offenses.

Local ordinances to check

• Whether a city or county has adopted a booting license ordinance under §55-31-201(c). Under the Act’s definitions, contracted property exists only where such an ordinance is in place, and locally licensed booting operators depend on it.
• Metro Nashville’s current booting rules, given the 2024 suspension. We could not confirm whether Metro has adopted an ordinance under the 2025 law.
• Memphis and other cities, for the same question. We found no Memphis booting license ordinance under the 2025 law.
• Each Tennessee Highway Patrol district’s maximum tow and storage rates.

Questions to raise with your attorney

The MOTION Act is detailed and recent, so these are questions an operator may want to bring to an attorney licensed in Tennessee:

• Do our signs give the §55-31-203 late penalty notice at every designated entrance and exit, clearly visible and readable?
• Does our escalation schedule track the 72 hour clock and the $50 and $75 caps, and how does §55-31-203 apply when our payment system is down?
• Do our tow signs name the tow company and its phone number as §55-31-204 describes, and who on our side authorizes each tow?
• Has our city or county adopted a booting license ordinance under §55-31-201(c), and how would each condition in that section apply to our lot and vendor?
• If we use plate readers, are our “LICENSE PLATE READER IN USE” signs placed as §55-31-202 describes?
• What records would matter if a driver brought a Consumer Protection Act claim under §55-31-103?

Lotably’s enforcement tools check permits and paid sessions before a citation, attach photo evidence, and let drivers pay or contest online, and fine amounts are set by the operator. 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. For other states, see private parking enforcement laws by state.