How to Check a Tow Company License in Texas (and What to Do If You Were Towed)

Three licenses, two searches

How to use the tow company search

The Tow Company and VSF Search gives you four ways in:

• Company, customer or DBA name. At least the first three characters. Spaces, periods and hyphens count as characters, so "A-1" and "A 1" are different searches. If the name on the truck does not work, try it as a DBA.
• TDLR number. The full 10-digit certificate number, if you have it from a receipt or a notice.
• City or zip code, combined with a status and a company type (tow truck or vehicle storage facility).

No paperwork? Look at the truck. Texas rules require both sides of a permitted tow truck to show the permit holder's name, a public phone number, its city and state, and the truck's permit number, in letters at least two inches high. A photo of the door gives you the name to search.

Pay attention to the status on the result. Besides Active, the search can show Administrative Hold, Enforcement Hold, Insurance Not Applied or Expired (less than 1 year). Anything other than active is worth a question before you hand over money or keys.

Why the company is not in the license file

TDLR's public license file, the source of every figure on this site, lists individual operators and VSF employees but not tow companies or storage facilities, which live in the separate system behind the search above. The individual side is large:

• 8,569 active incident management operator licenses, for tows from accidents and police scenes.
• 4,104 consent tow operator licenses, for tows the vehicle owner asks for.
• 262 private property operator licenses, for tows from parking lots without the owner's consent.
• 2,364 VSF employee licenses.

Private property operators by county Incident management operators

If your car was towed from a parking lot

TDLR's consumer guidance for non-consent tows from private property sets out what you can and cannot do. It does not apply to tows ordered by the police, and TDLR has no jurisdiction over repossessions.

• Do not try to physically stop a tow. TDLR is explicit about this. Let it go and file a complaint if it was improper.
• If the truck has not finished hooking up, you can take the car back at no charge.
• If it is fully hooked up but still in the lot, you can get it released by paying a drop charge, and the driver must accept cash, credit or debit cards.
• To find the car, use the phone number on the lot's towing sign, which must be answered 24 hours a day.
• To collect it, bring payment, a valid government photo ID and a document showing ownership or right to use the car, such as the insurance card or registration. You are allowed to get ownership documents out of the car without paying first.
• Fees are capped. TDLR sets maximum tow, drop and daily storage charges, and no fee outside the list is allowed. Check the current amounts in TDLR's consumer protection sheet.

The 14-day deadline

If you think the tow was not justified, you can ask for a tow hearing in any justice of the peace court in the county the car was towed from. The request must be made before the 14th day after the car was placed in the storage facility, so do not wait for a complaint to TDLR to run its course first. Bring receipts, notices and photos of the spot and of the signs, or of the lack of them.

Filing a complaint

Complaints about a tow company, a driver or a storage facility go to TDLR through its online complaint form, by email to enforcement@tdlr.texas.gov, or by phone on (800) 803-9202. Past penalties against towing and storage businesses can be checked in the penalties and administrative orders search.

Related

• How to search TDLR penalties and disciplinary actions
• Every TDLR search, and which one you need
• TDLR links directory

Questions

How do I check if a tow company is licensed in Texas?

Search the company name, DBA or 10-digit TDLR number in TDLR's Tow Company and VSF Search, and check that its status is Active.

How long do I have to dispute a tow in Texas?

A tow hearing must be requested from a justice of the peace court in the county of the tow before the 14th day after the vehicle was placed in storage.

Can a tow truck driver refuse my card?

Not for the drop charge. Under TDLR's consumer guidance, the driver must accept cash, credit and debit cards.

Sources

TDLR Tow Company and VSF Search; TDLR consumer protection: towing (PDF); tow truck signage, 16 TAC §86.701; TDLR towing program. License counts compiled from the public TDLR license file dated 20 September 2026.

Reviewed 8 October 2026. Written by an independent site; not legal advice and not an official TDLR publication. Fee caps and procedures change: confirm with TDLR.