Car towed from private property in New Orleans
Your car got towed from a lot or apartment complex in New Orleans. Louisiana law caps what that can cost and how it has to be done.
What Louisiana law says
Louisiana Revised Statute 32:1736 sets the rules for towing a car off private property without your consent. A tow truck operator can't remove a vehicle from a parking area unless law enforcement authorized it or the car is properly tagged for removal, and the property has to post a sign at its entrances and exits naming the towing company, plus its address and phone number, in lettering at least two inches tall. The operator also has to hand you an itemized invoice: date and time of service, the operator's name, and the law enforcement agency involved if there was one. Critically, the fee itself isn't up to the individual tow company. The Louisiana Public Service Commission sets a uniform statewide maximum for nonconsensual private-property tows: $146.50 flat for a standard car, or $179.00 if the operator had to reposition equipment, use a fold-down light bar, or bring an extra operator and can document it. A gate fee is capped at $62, and after-hours personal-property retrieval is capped at $62 too, free during normal business hours. Break these rules and the operator risks a fine as an offense under R.S. 14:68.4, and can lose its towing license; an overcharged owner can recover the excess fee plus attorney's fees and court costs. Quick Tow New Orleans is a private tow company, not the yard holding your car. We can't waive fees the state caps or the yard sets.
How it works in New Orleans
- 1 Confirm it was a private-property tow
Private-property tows happen at apartment complexes, shopping centers, and other lots, not public streets. That's a different process than a city-ordered tow.
- 2 Check for the required signage
Louisiana law requires a posted sign at the property's entrances and exits, naming the towing company plus its address and phone number, in lettering at least two inches tall.
- 3 Get the itemized invoice
The operator has to give you a written breakdown: date and time of service, the operator's name, and the law enforcement agency involved if there was one.
- 4 Know the capped rate
The Louisiana Public Service Commission caps the standard private-property tow at $146.50 flat, or $179.00 if extra equipment or an operator was documented as required.
- 5 Watch for extra fees
A gate fee is capped at $62, and after-hours personal-property retrieval is capped at $62 too, with no charge at all during normal business hours.
- 6 Retrieve your vehicle and keep the paperwork
If the total doesn't match the posted signage or the LPSC schedule, you have a real basis to dispute it. Quick Tow New Orleans can't waive private-property tow fees since we're not the yard.
What this looks like around New Orleans
Private-property tows in {c} often happen at French Quarter and CBD hotel lots, Uptown apartment complexes along Freret and Magazine St, or bar and restaurant parking near Frenchmen St. The same statewide signage and fee-cap rules apply everywhere in the parish.
New Orleans is our hub city and the busiest call area on the whole map, running from the French Quarter and the CBD out through Mid-City, Broadmoor, Carrollton, and Uptown to the Bywater and Marigny arts district along St. Claude Ave. Each of those neighborhoods carries its own dedicated page. Two call types define this market like nowhere else on the Gulf Coast: flood-stranded cars and Mardi Gras parade-route tows. Below-sea-level ground and an aging Sewerage and Water Board pump system mean a hard summer thunderstorm puts standing water in the street fast, at spots like the Carrollton Ave underpass and along Claiborne Ave, and that happens on an ordinary July afternoon, not just during a named storm. If your engine stalled in rising water, don't crank it again, a hydrolocked engine is a different job than a jump start, and our dispatcher asks the right questions before a truck rolls. Carnival season brings its own towing economy: parade routes post hard no-parking zones and the city moves cars fast, towed vehicles land at the retrieval lot on North Claiborne Ave, and we help drivers get there instead of guessing. Most calls reach downtown, the Superdome, City Park, and the French Quarter in about 20 to 35 minutes, and we run flatbed by default through the tight Quarter streets and for any car that's taken on water, with wheel-lift covering the ordinary breakdown everywhere else.
Common New Orleans questions
Is it legal to tow my car from a parking lot in New Orleans?
Yes, if the lot posted signage naming the towing company with its address and phone number in letters at least two inches tall, per La. R.S. 32:1736. Without that signage, the tow may not hold up if you dispute it.
How much can a private-property tow cost in New Orleans?
The Louisiana Public Service Commission caps the nonconsensual private-property tow rate at $146.50 flat for a standard car ($179.00 if extra equipment or an operator was documented as required). This is the state's regulated maximum, not any one company's price.
What fees can a tow company add on top of the tow in New Orleans?
A gate fee is capped at $62, and after-hours personal-property retrieval is also capped at $62, with no charge during normal business hours. Any fuel surcharge only applies to the tow itself, never to storage.
Does Quick Tow New Orleans do private-property tows in New Orleans?
Yes, we tow for property owners and managers with a signed agreement on file. If your own car got towed, we can also help with transport once it's released.
Related help for New Orleans
Private-property tows in the rest of the Orleans Core area
Need your car towed once it's released in New Orleans?
We can't waive the yard's fees. We can tow it home the moment it clears.