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Property Owner Guide
Abandoned Vehicles on Private Property in Florida: The Legal Process for Property Managers, HOAs, Landlords and Repair Shops
What you can do, what you cannot do, which statute governs your situation, and why no honest buyer will simply take the car off your hands.
Florida-specific · Updated 2026-09-08 · Written by the people who buy the cars
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First, figure out which situation you are actually in
"There's an abandoned car on my property" describes five legally different problems, and the fix for one can be a lawsuit in another. Before you call a tow truck or a cash buyer, place yourself:
- A stranger's car is parked on your lot, in a fire lane, or in a reserved space without permission. This is a private-property tow under FS 715.07, and the tow company, not you, ends up with the lien.
- A current tenant's car is sitting dead in the space that comes with their unit. This is the tenant's personal property. You cannot touch it without going through the lease and Chapter 83.
- A former tenant moved out and left the car behind. This is abandoned tenant property under FS 715.104 through 715.109, with its own notice and sale rules.
- A repair customer never came back for a car you fixed or stored. This is a mechanic's and storage lien under FS 713.58 and 713.585.
- An HOA or condo common area has a derelict vehicle nobody claims. This is usually FS 715.07 with the association as the "authorized person," plus whatever your governing documents say.
What all five share: whoever ends up holding the car needs a title, a salvage title or a certificate of destruction in their own name before it can be sold to anyone, including us.
The one thing you cannot do: sell or scrap a car you do not own
Possession is not ownership in Florida vehicle law. A person acquiring a vehicle does not get marketable title until a certificate of title is issued to them (FS 319.22(1)), and FS 319.30(1)(x) goes out of its way to close the back door for exactly the people reading this page. In defining who counts as a "seller" of a derelict vehicle, the statute says: "A seller does not include a towing company, repair shop, or landlord unless the towing company, repair shop, or landlord has obtained title, salvage title, or a certificate of destruction in the name of the towing company, repair shop, or landlord." Even the no-title derelict path on HSMV 82137, which lets an ordinary owner attest lawful possession with an ID and a thumbprint, is closed to landlords, tow operators and shops that have not perfected their claim.
For residential landlords there is a second wall. FS 83.67(5) prohibits a landlord from removing a tenant's personal property from the dwelling unit except after surrender, abandonment, recovery of possession after the death of the last tenant, or a lawful eviction, and FS 83.67(6) makes a landlord who violates the section liable for actual damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. Towing a current tenant's car because it has not moved in six weeks is the kind of thing that turns a nuisance into a judgment.
So the question is never "who will buy this car?" It is "which process produces a document with a name on it?" Once that exists, the sale is easy.
Situation 1: A stranger's car on your lot. The FS 715.07 private-property tow
FS 715.07(2) lets the owner or lessee of real property, or a person they authorize (including a condominium association's designated representative), have a vehicle parked without permission removed by a business regularly engaged in towing, without liability for the towing and storage costs, if the tow substantially complies with the statute's conditions. The conditions are specific and the penalties for skipping them are criminal.
Signage
Except for property that is obviously part of a single-family residence, or where the driver was personally told the space is reserved, you must have posted notice before towing: a sign prominently placed at each driveway access or curb cut, with the words "tow-away zone" in letters at least 4 inches high on a contrasting background, mounted so those words sit between 3 and 6 feet above the ground, along with the towing company's name and phone number and a statement that vehicles are towed at the owner's expense (FS 715.07(2)(a)5). A laminated sheet zip-tied to a fence does not count.
What the tow company must do
- Notify the municipal police or, in an unincorporated area, the sheriff within 30 minutes of completing the tow, with the storage location, time and vehicle description (FS 715.07(2)(a)2).
- Store the vehicle within a 10-mile radius of the removal point in a county of 500,000 or more people (Lee County) or within 15 miles in smaller counties (Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota), at a site open for redemption during business hours (FS 715.07(2)(a)1).
- Stop and release the car for no more than half the posted rate if the owner shows up while it is being hooked (FS 715.07(2)(a)3).
- File its rate schedule with local law enforcement and post it at the storage site.
What you cannot do
FS 715.07(2)(a)4 says a person "may not pay or accept money or other valuable consideration for the privilege of towing or removing vehicles" from a location. No kickbacks, no "we'll tow your lot free and split the scrap." And under FS 715.07(4), a person who improperly causes a vehicle to be removed is liable for the towing and storage costs, any damage, attorney's fees and court costs.
What happens after the tow: the FS 713.78 lien process
Once a tow company takes the car under FS 715.07, the property owner is out of the chain. The towing-storage operator has a lien for its fees under FS 713.78(2)(b), and the statute lays out how that lien becomes a title.
- Notice within 5 business days. The operator must send notice by certified mail, through an approved third-party service, to the registered owner, the insurer and every lienholder shown in FLHSMV or NMVTIS records, within 5 business days after the date of storage (FS 713.78(4)). FLHSMV lists the approved vendors on its repair shop and towing lien page.
- Sale after 35 or 57 days. An unclaimed vehicle may be sold free of prior liens 35 days after storage if it is an "older model" (more than 3 model years old) or 57 days if it is 3 model years old or newer (FS 713.78(6)). The sale must be a public sale for cash, and the notice of lien cannot go out less than 30 days (older) or 52 days (newer) before the sale date.
- Paper at the end. If the vehicle will be dismantled, the operator reports it to NMVTIS and applies to FLHSMV for a certificate of destruction (FS 713.78(11)). Otherwise, copies of the lien and sale notices plus proof of the NMVTIS check are "satisfactory proof" for a title application (FS 713.78(14)).
Notice who ends up holding that certificate of destruction or title: the tow company, or whoever bought the car at the public sale. That is the entity a cash buyer can legitimately deal with. If your property is in Fort Myers or Bonita Springs and you just want the car gone, this path costs you nothing but the sign.
Situation 2: A tenant moved out and left a car. FS 715.104 through 715.109
When a tenancy has ended and personal property is left behind, Florida's Disposition of Personal Property Landlord and Tenant Act controls. Under FS 715.104, the landlord gives written notice to the former tenant (and anyone else reasonably believed to own the property) describing the property and stating where and by when it can be claimed: not fewer than 10 days after the notice is personally delivered, or 15 days after it is mailed. If nobody claims it, FS 715.109 requires a public sale by competitive bidding after publishing notice once a week for two consecutive weeks, unless the landlord reasonably believes the property is worth less than $500, in which case the landlord may keep or dispose of it. Sale proceeds, after costs, go to the county within 30 days, and the former tenant has a year to claim them.
Two practical notes. First, FS 713.78(2)(b)3 expressly lets a landlord or a person authorized by the landlord have a tow company take a vehicle that "remained on the premises after the tenancy terminated," as long as it is done in compliance with FS 715.104. That hands the vehicle into the same 713.78 lien process described above and gets it off your lot without you ever needing to own it. Second, the FS 83.67(5) lease clause in which the tenant waives storage and disposition duties relieves you of the 715.104 storage obligations, but it does not give you title to a car, and the under-$500 disposal right in 715.109 does not let you sign a title you do not hold.
For HOAs and condo associations in Estero, Naples or Punta Gorda, the tool is a 715.07 tow from common-area parking after whatever notice your governing documents require. The association does not own the car and cannot sell it.
Situation 3: A customer never came back. The repair shop lien under FS 713.585
A shop that performed labor or services on a vehicle has a lien under FS 713.58, and FS 713.585 is how it enforces that lien by sale. The sequence is:
- Notice. Send notice of the lien by certified mail to the owner and all lienholders within 7 business days after storage charges begin, including the last 8 digits of the VIN on the envelope. The notice can never go out less than 30 days before the sale (FS 713.585(1)).
- Waiting period. The vehicle may not be sold earlier than 60 days after the repair work was completed (FS 713.585(3)).
- Publication. Publish the notice once in a newspaper circulated in the county where the work was done, at least 15 days before the sale (FS 713.585(4)).
- Clerk's certificate and title. After the sale, a copy of the certificate of compliance and the report of sale certified by the clerk of court, together with the notice copies, is satisfactory proof for an FLHSMV title application (FS 713.585(9)).
Shops in Lehigh Acres and Port Charlotte sometimes ask whether they can just call a scrap buyer for a car that has sat in the back for a year. Not until the shop has run 713.585 and holds a title or certificate of destruction in its own name; FS 319.30(1)(x) removed that shortcut on purpose.
Situation 4: Truly abandoned, no owner findable. Why Chapter 705 is not your tool
Property managers often reach for Florida's "lost or abandoned property" chapter, but read it first. FS 705.101 and 705.103 define abandoned property as tangible personal property "disposed on public property" in a wrecked, inoperative or partially dismantled condition, and the procedure they set up is for law enforcement: an officer tags the item with a notice giving the owner 5 days to remove it, after which the agency may sell, donate or dispose of it. Nothing in that procedure lets a private property owner tag and sell a car in their own lot.
What you can do is call the non-emergency line for the police department or sheriff with jurisdiction and report the vehicle. Law enforcement can run the plate and VIN, contact the registered owner, treat a stolen car as stolen, and refer a derelict vehicle to county code enforcement where a local ordinance applies; check your county's code rather than assuming the state statute covers it. If the police decline to act and the car is on your lot without permission, you are back to Situation 1 and a properly posted FS 715.07 tow.
When a cash buyer can legitimately help
Everything above ends in one of three documents: a title, a salvage title, or a certificate of destruction, held by a tow operator after a 713.78 sale, a shop after a 713.585 sale, a landlord after a 715.109 sale followed by a title application, or a court order under FS 319.28. At that point the holder is a "seller" under FS 319.30(1)(x), and a buyer like us can do exactly what we do for any other owner: verify the VIN, take the document assigned to us, check ID, and pay at pickup. A certificate of destruction can be reassigned at most two times and the vehicle must be dismantled, which is fine, because dismantling is where these cars are headed.
What we will not do is buy a car from a property manager on the strength of "it's been here for months and nobody has claimed it." The law does not let us, the previous owner still has rights until the process runs, and the paper trail would lead straight back to your property and our office. If a buyer tells you otherwise, ask how they intend to surrender the title to FLHSMV, because they will have to.
If you manage several properties across Lee County or Charlotte County, set this up once: a tow operator that runs 713.78 correctly, a sign that meets 715.07, and a buyer who will collect from the tow yard on the certificate of destruction.
How this works with us
Florida Cash for Junk Cars & Trucks is a locally owned buyer based in Cape Coral, and we pick up from Naples to Sarasota, including from tow yards, repair shops and apartment communities once the paperwork exists. Pickup is free when we buy the vehicle. At pickup the person named on the title, salvage title or certificate of destruction signs it over, we match it to their photo ID, and they are paid in cash. If you are a property manager, shop owner or HOA representative, call (239) 321-6781 or send the form and read us what your document says; we will tell you honestly whether we can take it or what the next step is. See also free junk car removal and unwanted cars we buy.
Sources
- Florida Statutes 715.07 — Vehicles or vessels parked on private property; towing
- Florida Statutes 713.78 — Liens for recovering, towing, or storing vehicles and vessels
- Florida Statutes 713.585 — Enforcement of lien by sale of motor vehicle (repair shops)
- Florida Statutes 715.104 — Notification of former tenant of personal property remaining on premises
- Florida Statutes 715.109 — Sale or disposition of abandoned property
- Florida Statutes 83.67 — Landlord prohibited practices (self-help removal of tenant property)
- Florida Statutes 705.101 and 705.103 — Lost or abandoned property; law enforcement procedure
- Florida Statutes 319.30(1)(x) — Definition of 'seller'; landlords, tow companies and repair shops excluded without title
- FLHSMV — Liens for auto repair shops and towing companies (approved notice vendors)
- HSMV 82137 — Derelict Motor Vehicle Certificate application (PDF)
Last reviewed 2026-09-08. Florida rules and fees change; confirm the current figure on flhsmv.gov or with your county tax collector before you act on it.
FAQ
Abandoned Vehicles on Private Property in Florida FAQ
Straight answers. See the full FAQ →
Not directly. A landlord is not a 'seller' under FS 319.30(1)(x) until it holds a title, salvage title or certificate of destruction in its own name. The lawful routes are the FS 715.104 notice followed by a 715.109 public sale, or authorizing a tow company under FS 713.78(2)(b)3 so the tow operator runs the lien process. Either way the landlord never signs a title it does not hold.
Under FS 713.78(6), a towing-storage operator may sell an unclaimed vehicle 35 days after storage if it is more than 3 model years old, or 57 days after storage if it is 3 model years old or newer. Notice must go to the owner, insurer and lienholders by certified mail within 5 business days of storage, and the sale must be a public sale for cash.
FS 715.07(2)(a)5 requires a sign at each driveway access or curb cut with the words 'tow-away zone' in letters at least 4 inches high on a contrasting background, mounted so those words sit between 3 and 6 feet above ground, plus the towing company's name and phone number and a statement that vehicles are removed at the owner's expense. Single-family residences are exempt.
Yes. FS 715.07(2)(a)2 requires the towing company, within 30 minutes after completing the tow, to notify the municipal police department or, in an unincorporated area, the sheriff, giving the storage site, the time of the tow and the vehicle's make, model, color and plate. Failing to do so is a first-degree misdemeanor under FS 715.07(5).
Generally yes, through an FS 715.07 private-property tow. The statute names a condominium association's designated representative as a person who may authorize removal. Post compliant tow-away signs, follow whatever notice your governing documents require, and let a licensed tow operator take the car into the FS 713.78 lien process. The association should not attempt to sell or scrap the vehicle itself.
Only after enforcing your lien under FS 713.585: certified-mail notice to the owner and lienholders within 7 business days of storage charges starting, no sale earlier than 60 days after the repair was completed, newspaper publication at least 15 days before the sale, and a clerk-certified report of sale. That package supports a title application, and only then can the shop sell to a cash buyer.
An honest one will not. FS 319.30(1)(x) excludes tow companies, repair shops and landlords from the no-title derelict certificate path unless they already hold title, salvage title or a certificate of destruction. A buyer that offers to take the car anyway is asking you to sell something you do not own, and the paperwork trail leads back to your property.
No. FS 705.101 defines abandoned property as property disposed on public property, and FS 705.103 is a procedure for law enforcement officers, who tag the item and give the owner 5 days before the agency disposes of it. For a private lot you use FS 715.07 to have the car towed, and the tow operator's FS 713.78 lien process produces the eventual title or certificate of destruction.
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Holding a title, salvage title or certificate of destruction on a vehicle in a tow yard, shop or community lot? Call (239) 321-6781 and we will schedule a free pickup anywhere from Naples to Sarasota.
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