Colorado’s new towing law (HB24-1051): what apartment managers need to know

A practical guide for Colorado property managers and HOAs · Updated June 2026

In short: Colorado’s HB24-1051 (effective 2024) made tow-company-driven parking patrol illegal at apartments and HOAs. Tow companies can no longer patrol your lot on their own authority and initiate tows — the property owner must now approve and document each tow within 24 hours before it happens. If your parking program still runs on a model where a third-party tow company handles enforcement independently, it’s worth a compliance review.

What changed — the key provisions of HB24-1051

Before HB24-1051, the common model for apartment parking enforcement in Colorado was simple: a property would contract with a towing company, give them standing authority to patrol the lot and tow unpermitted vehicles, and largely stay out of the day-to-day. The tow company acted as an extension of the property’s enforcement program.

That model is now prohibited in Colorado. The law makes four specific changes that directly affect multifamily communities:

1. No more tow-company patrol. A towing carrier is prohibited from patrolling or monitoring private property to enforce parking restrictions on behalf of the property owner. The law specifically removes the ability of a tow company to serve as the property’s enforcement agent in the lot.
2. Each tow requires documented 24-hour authorization. Towing now requires a written, signed permission from the property owner (or their authorized representative) within the previous 24 hours. Automated or preapproved standing authorization is not sufficient.
3. Tow companies cannot be the property’s agent. The law explicitly states that a towing carrier may not serve as the “agent” of the property owner for enforcement purposes. The decision to tow must stay with the property.
4. Property bears the storage cost. If a tow does occur, the property owner is contractually responsible for vehicle removal costs and all storage fees for the first 30 days.

Violations are classified as deceptive trade practices under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, with penalties starting at $10,000 per violation.

Sources: HB24-1051 full text (CO General Assembly), 9News coverage, CBS Colorado

What this means for your parking program

The practical question for any Colorado property manager is: who is actually authorizing enforcement at my community, and how is it documented?

Under the old model, a property would sign a contract with a tow company and that was that. Tows happened; disputes happened; the property wasn’t in the loop until a resident called to complain. HB24-1051 puts the property back in the decision chain. Every tow needs a documented authorization from the property side — not a preapproved blanket permission — before the tow truck moves.

This changes the calculus for a few common enforcement setups:

Software-only platforms that use tow-company partners

Several parking permit software platforms work by digitizing permits and then handing enforcement to a tow or boot company that patrols the lot and initiates removal of unpermitted vehicles. Under HB24-1051, the patrol-and-tow-on-their-own model is prohibited. If your current software vendor’s enforcement partner is conducting independent patrols and initiating tows without per-tow property authorization, that program likely needs to be restructured. Ask your vendor specifically: who authorizes each tow, and how is that documented?

In-house enforcement by property staff

Property staff who patrol the lot and initiate tow requests are not towing carriers, so the restrictions in HB24-1051 don’t apply in the same way. The property can still direct a tow company to remove a specific vehicle — the law restricts the tow company from acting unilaterally, not the property from requesting a tow. Keep documentation of each authorization.

Managed parking operators

A managed parking operator that acts as the property’s authorized representative — not a towing carrier — can still conduct lot patrols, identify violations, and coordinate tows on the property’s behalf. The key distinction is that the operator is acting as the property’s agent, not the tow company. If the operator and the tow company are separate entities, the operator (not the tow company) holds the enforcement authority and documents each action.

Questions to ask your current parking vendor

If you’re using a parking management platform or enforcement service in Colorado, these questions are worth getting answered in writing:

1. Does your enforcement partner patrol our lot on their own authority, or does the property authorize each tow? If the tow company has standing authority to patrol and tow independently, that’s the model HB24-1051 restricts.
2. How is each tow authorization documented? Can you show me the documentation process that satisfies the 24-hour written-permission requirement?
3. Who bears the cost if a tow is challenged or a vehicle is improperly removed? Under the new law, the property owner carries that exposure — confirm your contract reflects that clearly.
4. Has your enforcement program been reviewed by Colorado counsel since HB24-1051 took effect? If not, ask why.

The bigger picture

HB24-1051 is part of a broader trend in Colorado toward protecting residents from towing abuses — the 2022 “Towing Bill of Rights” (HB23-1217) required 24-hour notice before towing from apartment lots; HB24-1051 went further by restricting tow companies from patrolling on behalf of property owners entirely.

For property managers, the takeaway is not that enforcement is impossible — it’s that the model has to shift from “delegate and forget” to something where the property is a documented decision-maker in each enforcement action. The programs best suited to that model are ones where a trusted operator or your own staff holds the enforcement authority, and the tow company is a vendor called upon when needed, not an autonomous patrol.

Done right, a compliant enforcement program can still be effective. The goal is clearly documented authorization, not less enforcement.

About this article: Written by the team at 5280 Parking / multifamilyparking.com. This page summarizes publicly available information about Colorado HB24-1051 for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Consult a Colorado attorney for advice specific to your community’s enforcement program. If anything here is factually incorrect, contact us and we will correct it promptly.