Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 184: Georgia Consumer Protection Towing Act; enact
Last action March 3, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
A House bill would create a statewide online database of towed vehicles that towing companies must use to notify owners, replacing newspaper ads, while also shortening some owner notice deadlines and tightening others.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Currently, when a Georgia towing company cannot locate a vehicle's owner, the law requires the company to buy newspaper advertisements describing the vehicle before it can foreclose a lien and sell it. This bill would set up a statewide 'towed motor vehicle database,' built by the Department of Revenue or a licensed nonprofit industry group, where owners could look up a towed vehicle by VIN or license plate. Towing companies would have to enter each towed vehicle's VIN into the database within three days, and doing so would count as legal notice instead of running a newspaper ad. The bill also shortens the deadline for sending the official notification letter to owners from 15 days to 7 days, but lengthens the time an owner has to respond to a foreclosure petition from 10 days to 30 days. If a towing company skips required notice steps, the vehicle can be re-impounded to fix the problem, and any storage fees charged before that re-impoundment are wiped out. Most of the bill takes effect July 1, 2026, but the notice and database-use requirements in Part II do not start until January 1, 2028.
What the bill does
- Requires the Department of Revenue (or an approved nonprofit industry group) to build a statewide towed motor vehicle database searchable by VIN and license plate, operating by January 1, 2027.
- Requires towing and storage companies to submit a towed vehicle's VIN to the database within three days and treats that submission as sufficient legal notice to the owner instead of a newspaper advertisement.
- Shortens the deadline for sending an owner the required notification letter from 15 calendar days to 7 days after a vehicle is towed.
- Extends the time an owner has to answer a lien foreclosure petition from 10 days to 30 calendar days after notice is sent.
- Allows a vehicle to be re-impounded if a towing company, repair facility, or salvage dealer fails to follow notice rules, and cancels any storage fees charged before that re-impoundment.
- Requires the database operator, if a private nonprofit, to carry a $1 million surety bond and undergo independent data security audits.
Who it affects
Vehicle owners whose cars are towed from public or private property, towing and storage companies, repair facilities and salvage dealers that place liens on vehicles, the Department of Revenue, magistrate courts that handle lien foreclosure cases, and any nonprofit industry group that might operate the database.
Why it matters
Owners would be able to search online for a towed vehicle instead of relying on companies to find them or on newspaper ads few people read, potentially making it easier to recover a car before it is sold. Towing companies would face a faster notice deadline but also new database duties and a two-year phase-in for the notice changes.
Key provisions
- Section 1-2 requires the Department of Revenue to establish the towed motor vehicle database by rule no later than October 1, 2026, functional by January 1, 2027.
- Section 1-2 lets a qualifying nonprofit trade association operate the database if it maintains a $1 million surety bond, internal controls, and CPA-conducted data security audits, and keeps records for five years.
- Sections 2-1 and 2-2 add a requirement that towing firms submit a vehicle's VIN to the database within three days of removal from public or private property.
- Section 2-3 shortens the owner notification letter deadline from 15 calendar days to 7 days and eliminates the newspaper advertisement requirement, replacing it with timely database entry as sufficient notice.
- Section 2-3 adds a new subsection (g) allowing re-impoundment of a vehicle for notice noncompliance and voiding storage fees charged before that re-impoundment.
- Section 2-4 extends an owner's window to file an answer to a lien foreclosure petition from 10 days to 30 calendar days and removes the newspaper-advertisement path for serving unlocated owners.
- Section 3-1 sets the general effective date at July 1, 2026, but delays Part II's notice and database-use changes until January 1, 2028.
From the bill
“Such database shall be developed and functional no later than January 1, 2027, and shall provide for the submission of information upon the removal of a motor vehicle and include a feature that allows a motor vehicle owner to search for the location of a towed vehicle by vehicle identification number and license plate number.”
“If a towing and storage firm, repair facility, or salvage dealer fails to comply with the notice requirements in this Code section, the motor vehicle may be re-impounded to permit compliance.”
Discussed in meetings (4)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Motor Vehicles Committee, March 2, 2026
From 0:41:29 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the substitute for HB 184 would create a publicly accessible towed-vehicle database, shorten owner-notification deadlines, remove newspaper advertising requirements, prohibit storage fees accumulated before notification, and allow owners 30 calendar days to answer a notice. The sponsor described a negotiated framework with further changes possible. Members questioned whether deadlines meant business or calendar days and whether electronic reporting would burden small towing companies. An Enterprise Rent-A-Car witness said the proposal would help owners locate vehicles and help towing companies clear unwanted vehicles from their lots. A Towing and Recovery Association of Georgia witness requested clearer Department of Revenue responsibilities, a database fee cap, business-day reporting deadlines, and a year to comply after the database begins operating. That witness said unspecified days defaulted to business days under the relevant law. A department witness said a third party would likely operate the database, with fees, data access, and rural companies' limited internet access still needing discussion. The witness did not expect large department costs. The chair designated the meeting as a hearing only and scheduled continued discussion for the next morning. No vote was taken.
House Motor Vehicles Committee, March 3, 2026
From 1:28:41 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor returned with a substitute after the previous day’s testimony, describing a database for towed vehicles and changes to abandoned-vehicle procedures and owner notification. The sponsor outlined revised implementation dates, including an October 1, 2026 start, operation by January 1, 2027, and a separate January 1, 2028 effective date for the database. The sponsor said the timing allowed for implementation. Two members questioned shortening a deadline from 15 calendar days to seven days. The sponsor said the database should reduce the time needed and explained that the seven days would be business days. A member offered an amendment adding license plate numbers to the specified information and changing a reference from a 501(c)(3) organization to a 501(c)(6) organization. The committee adopted the amendment by voice vote, then approved the substitute as amended. The chair recorded two opposing votes on passage.
House Rules Committee, March 4, 2026
From 1:40:34 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: A committee member said HB 184 would update rules and procedures for involuntary towing to reflect practices elsewhere in the country, especially neighboring states. No specific provisions, questions or decision were recorded.
House Motor Vehicles Committee, March 17, 2026
From 0:27:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: A witness for the Towing and Recovery Association of Georgia identified the added towing provisions in SB 569 as the same HB 184 previously approved by the committee, with no substantive changes. The witness said the provisions followed an agreement between the towing and rental-car industries and work with municipal court judges. The chair described the provisions as allowing third-party notifications involving tow operators and insurers to speed the process, and said reaching agreement had taken almost two years. A representative of Enterprise and the rental-car industry also expressed support. The committee later approved these provisions as part of SB 569, without a separate vote on HB 184.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-12)
- Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
- Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)
- Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
- Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
Topics
- towing laws
- vehicle liens
- consumer protection
- Department of Revenue
- magistrate court procedures