Bill to allow tow companies to sell belongings from inside vehicles

A newly introduced bill will allow towing companies in Mississippi with unpaid tow bills to sell the personal property inside the vehicle.

The new legislation, SB2182, was introduced by Mississippi Senate Finance Chairman Joey Fillingane.

The bill would allow tow companies with unpaid bills, after proper notification and a waiting period, to sell property from inside the vehicle to recoup lost revenue.

Fillingane said that he created the bill after a local tow company came to him to complain about a semi truck with an unpaid tow bill. The semi truck had crashed and had been towed at the request of law enforcement. The remains of the wrecked truck would not cover the cost of the tow bill, and the tow company was not able, under current law, to sell the equipment from inside the truck to cover their costs.

Fillingane told the Clarion Ledger, “The guy got stiffed for a couple thousands dollars. He said this happens routinely. These towing company owners are Mississippi citizens, doing their work and not getting paid for it.”

Per the bill, any money obtained from the sale of personal property from within the vehicle in excess of the tow bill would be held by the tow company for six months and then returned to the lien holder or given to the chancery clerk of the county.

Another provision in the bill will eliminate the five days that a property owner must wait before they may have an unauthorized vehicle towed away.