Prince William County Imposes New Towing Restrictions

Prince William County Imposes New Towing Restrictions

Many community associations in Prince William County, Virginia are now subject to new restrictions on their ability to tow vehicles parked in violation of covenants and adopted rules. If your community requires display of parking permits or tows vehicles for having expired registration or inspection stickers, please carefully review this advisory announcement concerning changes to Prince William County Code Section 13-497 (effective October 28, 2025):

Signage Requirements 

For any community that tows vehicles for failing to display a parking permit, signage must be added or changed to state that permits are required and, if applicable, “Towing Enforced 24/7.” This additional language must use lettering at least 1.5” in height and can be added to existing signage or installed as a separate sign.  So, the towing company will not be able to legally tow for this type of violation until the association has installed this additional signage.

Grace Periods

For “roving tows” related to failing to display a parking permit, no vehicle may be towed without allowing a 10-minute grace period. In other words, a towing company hired to do “roving tows” can no longer simply tow a permit-less vehicle without waiting at least 10 minutes. The only exception is if the association specifically requests the tow at the time of the tow – if a management agent or other authorized association representative reports a permit-less vehicle to a towing company, the towing company will not be required to afford a 10-minute grace period.

For communities that prohibit the parking of vehicles with expired registration or inspection stickers, Prince William County now makes it illegal to tow that vehicle until one day after the second month following expiration of the registration or inspection sticker. For instance, if registration for a vehicle expired at the end of October 2025, a vehicle could not be towed for that reason until December 1, 2025.

Towing Agreements

Finally, all community associations and towing companies must be prepared to provide a copy of their towing contract to law enforcement upon request (during normal business hours).

To review the changes to the ordinance, clink on the link here. We understand the County’s intent to protect residents from “predatory towing,” but these changes may delay associations in upholding community standards. Volunteer leaders and management professionals in Prince William County need to ensure rules are enforced and vehicles towed in accordance with this new law. Please contact the attorneys at Chadwick, Washington, Moriarty, Elmore & Bunn, P.C. if you need any assistance in ensuring your policies and procedures comply with these changes.