OTRLC Announces Legislative Victory for Ohio Tow Industry

The following is a press release from the Ohio Towing & Recovery Legislative Committee:

The Ohio Towing & Recovery Legislative Committee (OTRLC) is happy to share great news with the Ohio towing and recovery industry. House Bill 132, the industry’s legislation to provide Ohio towing and recovery companies and storage facilities with a process to acquire titles to abandoned vehicles ordered into storage by law enforcement and reduce the number of notifications necessary for Private Tow Away Zones – was added to the State Budget (HB 110), and will become law.

Following a setback last week that saw the towing language removed from the bill in the Senate, our HB 132 sponsors State Representatives Don Jones and Brett Hillyer put up a tremendous fight to amend our language into the budget bill. Speaker of the House Bob Cupp deserves a tremendous amount of credit for sticking with the industry and pushing for the towing language to be included. We are also very grateful to Senator Frank Hoagland for standing in strong support of the industry and to Senate President Matt Huffman for agreeing to include the towing language in the budget bill. In an additional show of support for the industry, the House of Representatives also voted 93-1 to not accept the changes made to HB 132 (removing the towing language) by the Senate, stopping the legislation from advancing.

The towing language was added to HB 110 (State Budget) in a conference committee made up of members of both houses of the legislature. Monday evening, both the House (by a vote of 82-13) and the Senate (by a vote of 32-1) passed HB 110 – including all of the towing language – and the bill was sent to the Governor for his signature. The Governor signed the bill on June 30, and the towing language will take effect in 90 days.

This is a tremendous victory for the Ohio towing and recovery industry. We are also very thankful to our coalition of supporters for sticking with us throughout the process, including: The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, The Buckeye State Sheriffs Association, The Ohio State Highway Patrol, The Ohio Clerks of Court Association and The Ohio Automobile Dealers Association.

The OTRLC will continue to update the industry with details about the new title process, but a few key components of the new law are as follows:

• Reduces the number of notifications to vehicle owners/lienholders from 3 to 2 for Private Tow-Away Zone tows. The first notification remains within 5 business days after the BMV provides owner and lienholder information. The second notification is required if the vehicle remains unclaimed for 30 days after the first notice was sent.
• Establishes a process for a towing service or storage facility to obtain a certificate of title to vehicles ordered into storage by law enforcement in accordance with Ohio Revised Code Sections: 4513.60 (Vehicles left on private residential or private agricultural property), 4513.61 (Storing vehicles in possession of law enforcement officers or left on public property), and 4513.66 (Removal of highway obstruction).
• Requires the BMV to establish an affidavit to be used by the towing service or storage facility not later than 90 days after the effective date of the new law.
• Allows a motor vehicle dealer or repair facility that is in possession of a motor vehicle to cause the removal of the vehicle by a towing service if certain conditions are met and it provides a method for the towing service to obtain a certificate of title to the vehicle if it is abandoned.

Congratulations again to the Ohio towing and recovery industry on a huge legislative victory. The OTRLC will continue updating the industry with specific and detailed information about the new law before it takes effect so the industry is prepared to utilize these new tools. This success is due in large part to the united front of the OTRLC showing one strong voice to the legislature on behalf of the entire Ohio towing and recovery industry, and sticking together through another long and difficult legislative process. We look forward to the implementation of the new law and will continue to update the industry as we progress.