An abandoned car in Houston is not one legal problem. A sedan that has sat on a Heights or East End curb for days is a ParkHouston street case. A car left unpaid at a vehicle storage facility is a Texas Transportation Code Chapter 683 case. A wreck in an apartment lot is often a private-property tow under Occupations Code Chapter 2308. Mixing those paths is how people hire the wrong operator, or wait on a report that was never the right report.
Quick Tow Houston is a dispatch and referral line. We connect you with TDLR-licensed operators. We do not write tickets, and we do not run ParkHouston.
Public street: City Ordinance 26-93 and 311
ParkHouston states that City Ordinance 26-93 says a vehicle cannot legally park on a Houston public street for more than 24 hours. The city says that rule helps cut neighborhood blight and helps identify stolen vehicles.
The city’s published steps:
- ParkHouston receives a 311 service request for an abandoned vehicle or a vehicle parked on the street more than 24 hours. File it through Houston 311 or the 311 portal.
- A parking compliance officer goes to the location and chalks the vehicle. One courtesy warning is documented.
- If the vehicle has not moved when the officer returns, a citation is issued. Another citation follows if it still has not moved.
- A vehicle that has not moved within 48 hours is eligible to be towed as an abandoned vehicle.
- Each vehicle gets one warning. A later report does not restart the courtesy warning.
If you got an abandoned-vehicle warning on your own car, the city’s instruction is to move it. Long-term parking does not belong on the public street. Confirm the current process on the ParkHouston page linked above. Do not treat a blog as the ordinance text.
This is the path for a car in front of a bungalow in the Heights, a curb on the East End, a street in Gulfton, or a block in Aldine that sits inside the City of Houston. It is not the path for a reserved apartment stall. See a car parked in front of the house when the fight is the public curb versus your driveway.
Unincorporated Harris County is not ParkHouston. County streets use county process. Check the Harris County Sheriff towing information page for how that office handles tows, and do not assume 26-93 applies outside the city.
Private lot: Occupations Code Chapter 2308, not 311
If the car is in a driveway you own, a gated apartment lot, or a shopping-center stall, 311 does not tow it for you as a private-property job. A TDLR-licensed Private Property operator can remove an unauthorized vehicle when the lot meets Occupations Code §2308.301 signage: weather-resistant signs, at least 18 by 24 inches, mounted 5 to 8 feet high, the international tow symbol, who may park, enforcement days and times, and a 24-hour phone with area code. Signs go at each driveway or curb-cut, or every 25 feet if the entrance is wider than 35 feet.
If the signs are missing, the operator may decline the tow. The driver can raise missing signs at a tow hearing under Occupations Code §§2308.452 and 2308.456. That hearing is in a justice court in the county the vehicle was towed from. File a written request before the 14th day after removal, excluding weekends and holidays. The clock starts once the tower or storage facility gives the information needed to file.
A neighbor cannot privately tow a car from a public street just because it sits in front of their house. Public curb is not their lot. For a car blocking the driveway apron, use car blocking my driveway in Houston. For the sign rule itself, use private property towing sign requirements.
Storage yard: Transportation Code Chapter 683
A different “abandoned” clock starts after a car is already at a licensed vehicle storage facility. Under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 683, a vehicle in a storage facility is abandoned if it is left after the 10th day following mailed notice. Storage charges cap at 5 days until notice is mailed. A garagekeeper who fails to report within 7 days forfeits storage reimbursement.
TDLR sets the storage fees. Daily storage is $22.85 per day for a vehicle 25 feet or less, and $39.99 per day if it is longer than 25 feet, under 16 TAC §85.722, effective January 1, 2024. Storage begins 6 hours after the vehicle arrives. An impoundment fee of $22.85 and a notification fee of $50 also apply. The yard may not charge an environmental fee, a notary fee, or a fee to access personal property in a stored vehicle.
Houston has no single city impound lot. If the car was already towed, search findmytowedcar.com or findmytowedcar.org/harriscountytow. HPD Towline is (713) 308-8580. The owner-side pickup problem is covered in what happens if you don’t pick up your car.
When the car is yours and you want it gone
If the abandoned car is yours, and you want it removed as junk, that is a consent pickup, not a 311 report on yourself. Title and salvage rules still apply. Storm-flooded cars in this region are not theoretical. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 destroyed an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 vehicles. Hurricane Beryl in 2024 caused over $6 billion in damage. A vehicle damaged to a salvage or nonrepairable extent needs the right TxDMV title before transfer, including the flood brand under Transportation Code §501.097.
See cash for junk cars in Houston and paperwork to junk a car in Texas. For the tow itself, we connect you with a licensed operator at (281) 916-1288. The operator quotes their price before they roll. We do not set a brand junk-car price.
What we will not do
We will not send a private-property operator to hook a car off a public Houston street because a neighbor is tired of looking at it. That is ParkHouston’s process. We will not invent a city impound address. We will not quote a “standard abandoned car fee.” City non-consent rates inside Houston are set by Municipal Code §8-123. Statewide TDLR non-consent caps are published on TDLR’s consumer page. The operator you hire on a consent job quotes their own number.
If you own the lot, have compliant signs, and need a licensed PP operator, call (281) 916-1288. If the car is on a public street, start with 311.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have a neighbor’s car towed from the public street in front of my house? Not as a private-property tow you hire. Report it through 311. ParkHouston chalks the vehicle under Ordinance 26-93. A vehicle that has not moved within 48 hours is eligible to be towed as abandoned.
Is an abandoned car the same as a junk car I want to sell? No. Street abandonment is a city or county enforcement path. Selling a junk car is a title and pickup job you request. Those pages are separate.
What if the car is in my apartment complex lot? That is usually Occupations Code Chapter 2308, not 311. The lot needs compliant signs, and the operator needs a TDLR Private Property license.
How long before a car at a Houston storage yard is legally abandoned? Under Transportation Code Chapter 683, a vehicle in a storage facility is abandoned if left after the 10th day following mailed notice. Storage charges cap at 5 days until that notice is mailed.
Does Houston have one lot where abandoned cars go? No. There is no single city impound lot. Tows go to licensed private storage facilities. Use the lookup tools and HPD Towline.
Who do I call if I want my own dead car picked up? Call (281) 916-1288. We connect you with a licensed operator for a consent pickup. They confirm the price before the truck rolls.