Short answer: A Florida HOA or condominium association may have authority to request a tow, but a parking violation does not automatically mean the tow was proper. The important questions are whether the association had authority over the parking location, whether an applicable rule made the vehicle unauthorized there, and whether the required towing procedures were followed.
Was the Vehicle Actually Subject to Towing?
Start with the exact parking location. A community may include association property, assigned spaces, limited common elements, individually owned driveways, private roads, and public streets. The association does not necessarily have the same authority over all of them.
Under section 715.07, Florida Statutes, the owner or lessee of private property, or someone authorized by the owner or lessee, may have a vehicle removed when it is parked without permission. For condominium property, the authorized person may be the association’s designated representative.
The next question is what made the vehicle unauthorized. The answer may come from the declaration, an amendment, a parking rule, an assigned-space document, or a permit condition. The version in effect on the tow date matters.
A parking restriction also does not necessarily authorize an immediate tow. For example, a rule may prohibit parking on grass or require a permit, but another provision may require a warning or a continuing violation before the vehicle can be removed. The complete wording should be reviewed.
A resident permit does not necessarily allow parking in every area of the community. At the same time, an association should be able to identify the rule governing the particular vehicle and parking location.
Florida law also protects certain vehicles in HOA communities. Under section 720.3075(3)(d), HOA documents may not prohibit an owner, tenant, guest, or invitee from parking a personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the owner’s driveway or another place where that person has a right to park under state and local regulations.
The statute also protects a qualifying work vehicle parked in the owner’s driveway from being prohibited merely because it displays a company name, logo, or other visible designation. The protection applies when the vehicle is not a commercial motor vehicle as defined in section 320.01(25). These protections apply to HOAs, not condominium associations.
Were Proper Signs and Procedures Used?
Section 715.07 generally requires either qualifying personal notice or compliant tow-away signs. The signs must satisfy requirements concerning their location, visibility, wording, towing-company information, and installation. Local ordinances may impose additional rules and maximum rates.
The absence of a personal warning does not necessarily make a tow improper. In Norman v. Ashburn Square Homeowners’ Association, Inc., 393 So. 3d 1281 (Fla. 2d DCA 2024), the court held that compliant signs can provide the statutory notice required before towing.
But Norman also shows why the association’s own rules matter. The association’s parking rules appeared to require notice of the specific violation before towing. The court did not decide whether failing to follow that requirement created liability because the owner had not asserted that particular theory.
The practical point is that statutory signs and association-created procedures are different issues. Signs may satisfy section 715.07 while a separate question remains about whether the association followed its own documents.
A tow is also not automatically the same as a fine or suspension. The statutory hearing procedures for association fines do not necessarily apply before every private-property tow. If the association is imposing both a tow and a fine, each remedy should be reviewed separately.
What Should an Owner Do After a Tow?
The immediate priority is usually retrieving the vehicle before additional storage charges accrue. At the same time, important facts should be documented while the signs, markings, and parking conditions remain unchanged.
An owner or resident should consider collecting:
- Photographs of the exact parking space, pavement markings, curb, nearby restrictions, and every vehicular entrance and towing sign
- The parking permit, assignment, registration confirmation, warning, email, text message, and parking rule previously provided
- The towing receipt, applicable rates, photographs, authorization information, and any document presented for signature
- The police or sheriff’s record showing when the tow was reported and where the vehicle was stored
- The association’s towing policy, applicable parking rule, towing contract, and records identifying who requested the removal
The towing company has its own obligations. It generally must notify the municipal police department or sheriff within 30 minutes after completing the tow. A removed vehicle must be released to its owner or person in control or custody within one hour after requested. The person retrieving it may inspect the vehicle before accepting its return and cannot be required to waive liability for damage identified during that inspection.
A towing company may require payment of properly established towing and storage charges before redemption. Its rates must be filed with local law enforcement and posted at the storage facility as required by section 715.07.
In managing long-term residential rentals, I have found that towing disputes often begin with whether the tenant received the parking rules or a warning. That may be important, but it is rarely the entire issue. The exact space, entrance signs, rule in effect on the tow date, authority for removal, and towing record may each answer a different part of the question.
What If the Tow Appears Improper?
Section 715.07(4) provides that a person who improperly causes a vehicle to be removed may be liable to the vehicle’s owner or lessee for removal, transportation, and storage charges, resulting damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
That does not mean every technical error makes a tow improper. The statute uses a substantial-compliance standard. Responsibility may depend on who authorized the removal, what rule applied, whether the required notice existed, what the towing company did, and what loss can be established.
A focused official-records request may help obtain the association’s parking rules, towing contract, board records, warnings, and related communications. A tenant may need the unit or parcel owner to request association records that are not directly available to the tenant.
The Practical Takeaway
Do not evaluate a tow based only on whether the vehicle displayed a permit or whether the resident received a warning. Identify the exact parking location, who had authority over it, the rule in effect on the tow date, whether that rule authorized removal, what the signs or personal notice said, and whether the association and towing company followed the applicable procedures.
Those facts usually provide a clearer answer than any single document or general statement that the vehicle violated the community’s parking rules.
Sources reviewed: October 6, 2026.