H.768 creates a new chapter in Title 23 called the Vermont Consumer Protection Towing Act, establishing statewide standards for towing and storage companies operating in Vermont. The bill defines key towing-related terms and gives the Department of Motor Vehicles exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over towing companies, including rulemaking authority and a consumer/insurer complaint process. It applies to most towing and storage services in Vermont, while excluding automobile clubs, dealers, insurance companies, and abandoned-vehicle towing already governed elsewhere in statute.
The bill imposes detailed operational requirements on towing companies for emergency towing, private-property towing, and seizure towing. These include limits on solicitation at crash scenes, requirements to document the tow with photos or video, record caller and vehicle information, retain records for three years, provide prompt notice to owners and law enforcement, and keep vehicles secured against damage or theft. It also requires written estimates and itemized invoices, sets minimum hours of operation for towing-storage lots, mandates release procedures and payment methods, and prohibits a range of unfair or deceptive practices.
H.768 also caps towing, drop, and storage charges by vehicle class and restricts fees unless the owner consents to higher charges. For abandoned vehicles, the bill amends existing law so that towing and storage charges are limited by the new fee caps, and it changes the disposition of abandoned vehicles so that any value above unpaid towing and storage charges must be reported to the State Treasurer through the unclaimed property system. The bill further amends abandoned-vehicle provisions for public-property towing and adds a presumption of abandonment tied to issuance of a certificate of abandoned motor vehicle.
The bill’s overall impact is to shift Vermont’s towing industry toward a more regulated consumer-protection model, with DMV oversight, standardized disclosures, fee limits, and stronger owner rights to inspect, pay, and reclaim vehicles. It also affects municipalities, insurers, vehicle owners, landowners, and towing operators by changing how towing charges are set, documented, collected, and enforced, and by redirecting surplus proceeds from abandoned vehicle sales into the state unclaimed property process.
Because no committee transcripts or votes were provided, there is no recorded legislative debate or vote history to gauge sentiment. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears designed to address concerns about predatory towing, excessive storage fees, lack of transparency, and difficulty recovering vehicles and personal property. The main points of potential contention are likely to be the fee caps, the new documentation and notice requirements, the DMV’s expanded regulatory role, and the limits on towing companies’ discretion in emergency and private-property towing situations.
The bill adds a new regulatory chapter to Title 23 governing towing and storage services, and it amends existing abandoned-vehicle and towing-fee statutes to align them with the new consumer-protection framework. It also creates a new unclaimed-property mechanism for surplus value from abandoned vehicle sales and authorizes DMV rulemaking and future enforcement procedures.
No committee discussion or vote data was provided, so there is no documented legislative sentiment from hearings or roll calls. The bill’s stated purpose and structure indicate a generally consumer-protection-oriented approach, likely intended to curb abusive towing practices and improve transparency for vehicle owners and insurers.
The likely areas of contention are the bill’s fee caps, mandatory release and payment rules, recordkeeping and notice obligations, and the transfer of primary oversight to the DMV. Towing companies may view the bill as imposing significant operational and revenue constraints, while consumer advocates and vehicle owners are likely to support the added protections, clearer pricing, and stronger recovery rights.