AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 85-7-251, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE NOTICE REQUIREMENT REQUIRED TO BE GIVEN BY TOWING COMPANIES TO AN OWNER OR LIENHOLDER OF A TOWED VEHICLE; TO AUTHORIZE A CIVIL PENALTY IMPOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE FOR FAILURE TO MAKE A GOOD FAITH EFFORT TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
SB 2724 amends Mississippi’s vehicle towing notice statute, Section 85-7-251, to change how towing companies must identify and notify owners and lienholders of towed vehicles. The bill shortens and restructures several notice and redemption timelines, including requiring towing companies to obtain owner and lienholder information within five business days if the vehicle owner has not contacted them, to notify lienholders by email through a Department of Revenue-approved vendor, and to send notice by registered mail by the seventh day after the tow. It also adjusts the time before a sale may proceed, requiring certified-mail notice of sale after 20 days and allowing public auction if the vehicle is not redeemed within 20 days after that mailing, while continuing to require newspaper publication and email notice during the sale period.
The bill also adds an enforcement mechanism by authorizing the Department of Insurance to impose civil penalties when a towing company fails to make a good-faith effort to comply with the statute. A first violation would carry a $1,000 penalty, and second or subsequent violations would carry a $2,000 penalty. In addition, a towing company that fails to make a good-faith effort would be barred from collecting towing or storage charges for the vehicle. Towing companies must keep records for three years documenting towed vehicles and compliance steps, and the act would take effect July 1, 2026.
This bill would amend Mississippi Code Section 85-7-251, changing the statutory notice and sale procedures governing nonconsensual tows and impoundments. It expands the use of electronic notice to lienholders and owners, tightens deadlines for mailing and redemption, and creates a state civil penalty regime enforced by the Department of Insurance. The measure directly affects towing companies, vehicle owners, lienholders, law enforcement agencies that receive tow reports, and county officials who receive unclaimed sale proceeds.
The available record shows no committee transcript or vote history, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge broad sentiment. Based on the bill’s caption and text, the measure appears aimed at improving notice to owners and lienholders and strengthening compliance expectations for towing companies, suggesting a consumer-protection and administrative-enforcement rationale. There is no evidence in the provided materials of organized opposition or support, but the changes could be viewed favorably by vehicle owners and lienholders and more cautiously by towing operators because of the added compliance duties and penalties.
The main points of potential contention are the shortened notice and redemption timelines, the new requirement to use email notice through a Department of Revenue-approved vendor, and the civil penalties for noncompliance. Towing companies may object to the added administrative burden, recordkeeping requirements, and the risk of losing towing and storage charges if they do not make a good-faith effort to comply. Vehicle owners and lienholders, by contrast, would likely favor the stronger notice protections and clearer procedures for recovering vehicles before sale.