State regulators are seeking the public’s feedback on revisions to towing rules, the result of legislation from last year that seeks to protect Coloradans when companies tow their vehicles without their consent. 

The Public Utilities Commission, which lawmakers tasked with crafting the new rules, will hold the virtual public hearing on May 30 via Zoom. 

The PUC regulates Colorado’s roughly 730 towing companies and deals with rates, scope of operations, insurance, safety, compliance and complaints. The body employs six staffers who investigate around 400 towing complaints each year on average.

The new law will likely mean the investigations will increase by roughly 15% as a result of new towing regulations and requirements, according to a fiscal analysis. 

Among other things, the law grants the PUC additional authority to promulgate regulations on non-consensual towing, deny permit applications or permit renewals by towing carriers found to have committed towing-related offenses or acted against the public interest, and adjust permit fees.

The legislation also establishes new responsibilities for vehicle towing companies and storage facilities, including the following: 

• A company must prominently display the maximum allowable rates that may be charged for towing services at its place of business and on its website

• Provide adequate lighting and signs in storage facilities

• Maintain safety and security of towed vehicles

• Provide evidence of insurance upon request

• Charge for storage only when it is provided and not charge for storage beyond the first 24 hours before providing a notice to interested parties

• Provide owners or lienholders an itemized bill upon request

• Take a photo to document the vehicle’s condition and reason for the tow before towing

• Retain information on non-consensual tows for three years, and provide them upon request

• Upon a demand by the vehicle’s owner, retrieve the contents of a towed vehicle without payment, or allow the owner to retrieve the vehicle after paying 15% of the fees owed – which cannot exceed $60 – and signing a form saying they owe the towing company 

• Release a vehicle that has been hooked up but not yet towed from the property if requested by an authorized or interested person

• Unless ordered by a police officer, not tow vehicles because of expired vehicle registration

• Pay lienholders, car owners, and other interested persons the sum of any proceeds from the sale of a vehicle, if the revenue is greater than the charges owed to the towing company