Get your car towed? This Delaware bill aims to protects drivers

• House Bill 351, which codifies requirements for towing and storage of cars and protections for owners, passed the Delaware House Tuesday.
• The bill was held up recently after the city of Wilmington expressed concerns about the legislation.
• During debate on the House floor Tuesday, some lawmakers expressed concern about the impact the bill could have on tow companies.

A bill giving protections to drivers from unscrupulous tow companies passed the state House of Representatives Tuesday after Delaware’s largest city gave lawmakers the “green light” for passage.

House Bill 351 was set to be voted on Thursday by the Delaware House, but never made it to the floor for a vote because Wilmington representatives wanted to ensure that the city’s attorneys and administration would support the bill in its final form.

The following day, Wilmington officials gave their support for the bill that codifies requirements for towing and storage of vehicles and protections for vehicle owners, including capping charges to owners for retrieving their vehicles at $500 and preventing towing companies from patrolling for “illegally parked cars.”

CITY GIVES OK:Why Wilmington had issues with bill protecting drivers from 'unscrupulous' tow companies

The legislation Tuesday was approved by House lawmakers along party lines in a 24-14 vote with three absences, but not without some debate among legislators about the impact the $500 cap could have on tow companies.

Some of the discussion centered around concern about applying the $500 cap when a car is towed because it was in an accident or is disabled on the roadway, which the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ed Osienski, assured colleagues the cap wouldn’t apply in those instances.

“This legislation excludes law enforcement tows,” Osienski said. “The $500 cap is for non-consensual tows, so…an accident or unpaid parking tickets or abandoned vehicles are not captured in this legislation.”

How the bill earned Wilmington’s support

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki's Deputy Chief of Staff John Rago said the city supports the bill as amended now that the legislation clarifies language and ensures that jurisdictions can tow vehicles that owe unpaid parking tickets.

Rago had said Wilmington had concerns about the “definition of public parking areas” in the original bill, but the amendment proposed by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ed Osienski, alleviates the concern.

CITY PARKING:Wilmington to ignore City Council call for audit of parking enforcement practices

Wilmington currently tows vehicles that owe $200 or more in unpaid parking tickets, but there is legislation proposed within Wilmington City Council that would increase the threshold to $500 in unpaid parking tickets before a car can be towed.

It's the city’s practice of towing cars for unpaid parking tickets that will be scrutinized by a federal judge in July. The civil rights lawsuit claims that Wilmington is violating the U.S. Constitution by illegally seizing cars for nonpayment of parking tickets, impounding them and allowing private towing companies to scrap the vehicles and keep the proceeds if the owners do not pay the outstanding debt within 30 days.

Overview of House Bill 351

The bill would add a new chapter to Title 21 in the State Code regarding towing and require companies to provide photographic evidence of the “unauthorized parking of a vehicle” before it’s towed; publicly display rates and ensure they are reasonable; and prevent towing companies from patrolling for “illegally parked cars.”

It does not prevent towing of vehicles involved in car crashes; vehicles blocking roadways; nor, with the latest amendment to the bill, cars that have unpaid parking tickets.

It also makes any violations enforceable by the Consumer Protection Unit of the state Department of Justice.

House Republicans, who primarily opposed the legislation, questioned whether other “private businesses” are regulated and restricted in the same manner as this bill would do for towing companies.

Rep. Richard Collins expressed concern that the cap doesn’t take inflation into account.

“This is really kind of a death sentence for some companies,” he said. “I know we want to help people, but people have jobs at these places. We’re making business so hard in Delaware. We want people to have better lives. They can’t have better lives without jobs, without prosperity.”

Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.