Towed Car Help

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Car towed in College Park

College Park is in Prince George's County, Maryland. Here is how to find your car, what you can be charged, and what to do if the tow looks wrong. Last checked 2026-10-17.

Storage fees grow every day. Get your car back as soon as you can, even if you plan to dispute the tow. Pay, keep every receipt, and fight the charges afterward.

Find who towed your car

Street parking or a police tow

In College Park, call the Prince George's County Police non-emergency line to find out whether your car was towed and which company has it.

Apartment, store, or private lot

Read the tow-away sign at the lot entrance. It must show the tow company's name and phone number.

No sign, or you can't find it? The company must report the tow to police within 1 hour, so call the police non-emergency line and ask where your car went.

Md. Code, Transp. 21-10A-04(a)(2)

No record of a tow anywhere? Report the car to police as possibly stolen.

What they can charge

$250.00
Ceiling to tow a standard car from private property under Maryland (statutory default; applies where the county or city sets no impound fee limit) rates; your city may set its own
$30.00
Maryland (statutory default; applies where the county or city sets no impound fee limit) ceiling per day of storage

These rates may have changed since this schedule was published. Schedules are often updated once a year, so check the official source before relying on them.

Where a county or city sets a fee for police-ordered impound tows, the cap is twice that tow fee plus that jurisdiction's daily storage fee. The $250 tow and $30/day storage figures apply only when the local government sets no limit. The drop fee is capped at half the cost of a full tow. See the official Maryland (statutory default; applies where the county or city sets no impound fee limit) rates (opens in a new tab).

Estimate your bill

What to bring

  • The owner or the owner's agent can retake the car. The storage lot must also let the owner, an agent, the insurer, or a lender with a security interest inspect the car.
  • The storage lot must accept cash or at least two major credit cards. If it takes only cash, it must have a working ATM on site. If it cannot run a card and has no ATM, it must take a personal check, unless your card was declined. Call ahead to ask which types the lot takes.

Paperwork locked inside the car? While the car is in storage, the lot must let you, under its supervision, inspect it or take out personal property that is not attached to the car.

Md. Code, Transp. 21-10A-05(a)(3), (c)(3); Md. Code, Transp. 21-10A-05(c)(1)-(2); Md. Code, Transp. 21-10A-05(c)(3)

Getting it back

  • The storage lot must give you or your agent immediate and continuous access to reclaim the car from 6 a.m. to midnight, 7 days a week, starting when the car arrives there.
  • Inspect the car before you drive away, and photograph any damage.

Md. Code, Transp. 21-10A-05(a)(3)

How to dispute a tow

  1. Collect evidence. Photograph the lot entrances and any signs, keep every receipt, and write down times and names.
  2. Ask for an itemized invoice. If the local government sets no limit for impound tows and storage, the default caps are $250 for the tow and $30 per day for storage. The tow cap must also be printed on the lot's sign.
  3. File a complaint.
  4. Consider small claims or a chargeback. Maryland District Court small claims handles money claims up to $5,000, not counting interest, costs, and certain attorney's fees. If you paid by credit card, you can dispute the charge with your card issuer. For billing errors, your written dispute generally must reach the issuer within 60 days of the first bill showing the charge. Whether a tow charge qualifies is up to the issuer.

Deadlines to watch

Your car can be sold. If storage and tow charges stay unpaid for 30 days and the holder still has the car, it may sell the car at public sale. The holder must run newspaper notices two weeks in a row and mail notice by registered or certified mail at least 10 days before the sale.

The tow company must send the owner, insurer, and any lender notice by certified and first-class mail within 7 days (excluding days it is closed). The notice repeats the details given to the police.

Maryland deadlines, counted from the law

See the dates for your tow

Common questions

Where is my car if it was towed in College Park?

In College Park, call the Prince George's County Police non-emergency line to find out whether your car was towed and which company has it. For a private tow, the tow company must report it to police within 1 hour, so the police non-emergency line can usually tell you where the car is.

How much can a tow company charge in College Park?

For a standard passenger car towed from private property, the Maryland (statutory default; applies where the county or city sets no impound fee limit) ceiling is $250.00 for the tow and $30.00 per day for storage. College Park may set its own lower limits, so ask the tow company for its rate sheet.

How long before a towed car is sold in Maryland?

If storage and tow charges stay unpaid for 30 days and the holder still has the car, it may sell the car at public sale. The holder must run newspaper notices two weeks in a row and mail notice by registered or certified mail at least 10 days before the sale.

Do I pay storage if I get my car back quickly?

Ask the tow company when storage charges begin.

Not verified yet for College Park

We only publish details we could confirm from an official source. These are still missing, so ask the agencies above:

  • Addresses and hours of the tow lots that hold police tows
  • An official online lookup for towed cars
  • City-specific documents needed to pick up a car
  • Local rules for someone else picking up your car
  • Local auction schedules for unclaimed cars

Other cities in Prince George's County

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-17. These are the laws and official pages this page is based on.