Towed Car HelpHome / Property managers / Missouri
Towing rules for property managers in Missouri
Before you have a car towed from your property in Missouri, check these rules. They are a summary of state law; your city or county may add more.
Printable checklist
- Placement: In plain view at all entrances
- Sign size: at least 17 inches by 22 inches
- Letters at least 1 inch tall
- A sign at each entrance
- The tow and storage charges
- A warning that unauthorized vehicles will be towed
- Tow company reports the tow to police within 2 hours
- Release the car if the owner returns before it leaves the property
What the sign law says
Applies to: Private property; without a sign the owner must notify police and wait 10 hours (small owner-occupied homes of four units or fewer) or 96 hours (other private property)
A property owner, lessee or full-time property manager can have a car towed on the spot only if they are present, and only if a sign is posted in plain view at all entrances. The sign must be at least 17 by 22 inches with letters at least 1 inch tall. It must prohibit public parking, say unauthorized cars will be removed at the owner's expense, show the maximum fee for all towing and storage charges, and give a police number or a staffed 24-hour phone number to find the car.
RSMo 304.157.4 (opens in a new tab)
The phone number on the sign is a police number or a staffed 24-hour number, not necessarily the tow company's. Dimensions are given as 'X by Y inches' without naming which is width and which is height; they are listed in the stated order. Additional quoted text comes from: RSMo 304.157.4(1) <https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=304.157>.
Tow-away signs and permission
- A property owner, lessee or full-time property manager can have a car towed on the spot only if they are present, and only if a sign is posted in plain view at all entrances. Without that sign, the owner must first notify police and wait 10 hours (small owner-occupied homes of four units or fewer) or 96 hours (any other private property). RSMo 304.157.4 (opens in a new tab)
- The sign must be at least 17 by 22 inches with letters at least 1 inch tall. It must prohibit public parking, say unauthorized cars will be removed at the owner's expense, show the maximum fee for all towing and storage charges, and give a police number or a staffed 24-hour phone number to find the car. RSMo 304.157.4(1) (opens in a new tab)
- A tow company cannot start removing a car from private property without written permission from the owner or an agent who is present. A blanket permission to tow at the company's own discretion is not allowed, except for cars within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or in a fire lane. RSMo 304.158.8 (opens in a new tab)
- A company that tows without that written permission owes the property owner four times the towing and storage charges. A property owner who tows in violation of the rules owes the car owner double the towing or storage charges. RSMo 304.158.4, 304.158.9 (opens in a new tab)
If you get back before the tow leaves
- If you return before your car is removed from the property, the company may charge no more than half of its regular towing charge. The full charge can be imposed only once the car has left the property and is in transit. RSMo 304.158.6 (opens in a new tab)