Collin County Vehicle Impound Guide

Plano doesn't run its own impound lot. The police contract goes to Signature Towing at 1204 Municipal Avenue, and the Collin County Sheriff uses it regionally too. Dispatch is (972) 423-4010, and you can look up your vehicle on the company's website. The lot takes cars and releases them 24 hours a day, but if you show up after business hours you may have to call the number posted at the gate and wait up to an hour for an attendant. Staff also close for lunch, roughly noon to 1.

What it costs

Here's the good news: Plano negotiated a low contract rate for police tows, around $99 to $146 for a standard vehicle, well under the $272 state cap. A complex accident recovery can run higher. Storage is $22.85 a day, there's a one-time impound fee around $21, and a $50 notification fee is added once the car sits 24 hours and the certified letter goes out. If you pick the car up within 12 hours of it arriving, even across midnight, you're charged for one day.

The lot has to take cash, debit, or a credit card, Visa, MasterCard, Amex, or Discover. A "cash only" demand or a claim that the card machine is down is a violation you can report to TDLR.

What you need

A government photo ID, and a Matrícula Consular counts. Proof of ownership, meaning the title or the paper registration receipt, not just the window sticker, with a name matching your ID. If the owner is in jail or the hospital, a notarized limited power of attorney; if the title is locked in the car, ask for the Affidavit of Right of Possession form at the window. Full payment. And proof of insurance for that specific vehicle, which can be the app on your phone.

Without insurance you can't drive the car off the lot, but you can still get it back. Hire a licensed tow truck to haul it to your driveway or a shop, and the lot has to release it to that operator even though the car itself is uninsured.

You always have the right to go into the car for your belongings and your paperwork at no charge, medication, car seats, clothing, work tools. You can't strip parts off it.

Fighting the tow

You have 14 business days from the day the car reached the lot, not counting weekends and holidays, to file a written request for a tow hearing. For a Plano tow that's Collin County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3, at 920 East Park Boulevard, Suite 210 in Plano, or Precinct 4 in Frisco, depending on where the tow happened. The filing fee is about $54, and a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment waives it. If the judge finds there was no probable cause for the tow, they can order your fees repaid.

If you can't pay

Storage keeps adding up. The lot sends a certified first notice around day 10 to 14 and adds the $50 fee, and 30 days after that notice it can declare the car abandoned and sell it at auction. If the sale doesn't cover what you owe, the company can sue you for the difference. Signing the title over to the lot in exchange for it dropping the balance can head that off, but it has to be negotiated.