New booting law to take effect in Tennessee starting July 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Within a week, Nashville drivers won’t have to worry about boots on their tires, at least for now.

The change is coming because the city’s car booting law will conflict with a new state law. The new legislation is meant to target “bad actors” who prey on drivers parking around the city. However, starting on July 1, Tennessee will have new rules for booting cars.

It’s called the Modernization of Towing, Immobilization, and Oversight Normalization or “MOTION” Act . It requires a license to boot, and it caps fees to remove a boot at $75. Republican Senator Jack Johnson sponsored the legislation.

“It might be surprising to some, but I’ve received calls from constituents that there are individuals out there that will go out somewhere and buy one of these booting devices and show up at parking lots and start putting boots on people’s cars,” Johnson said during a meeting about the new bill. “Then wait for them to come out of the restaurant and tell them they have to pay $200 in order to get that boot removed.”

The law also includes a provision that states that if a company boots a car in a commercial parking lot, a licensed parking attendant with an ID has to be available to remove the boot within 45 minutes of a driver’s call. Another provision in the bill restricts commercial parking lot owners from using third party companies to enforce booting.

This creates a problem in Nashville because the current local ordinance doesn’t allow owners to boot cars. Until Nashville’s law is updated, booting will be banned.

“If you’re going to go to the egregious step of immobilizing someone’s vehicle when there could be an emergency, you’ve got a sick child that you need to get to the hospital and you come out and you find that your vehicle has been immobilized,” Johnson said. “Those people need to be held accountable.”

News 2 reached out to several local parking enforcement companies for comment on the new law.

“We at Parking Authority LLC have always operated to the letter of the law that has governed us. We understand that a temporary pause in the enforcement of Parking on private property, via vehicle immobilization is necessary to ensure a city ordinance can be adopted that fully complies with the new state law. We look forward to the opportunity to be able to work with or assist our metro government in any capacity in answering questions regarding the industry that our policy makers might have. We look forward to a new and efficient city ordinance that encompasses the needs of the property owners in addition to the wellbeing of the public going forward.”

Statement from Parking Authority LLC

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The bill also mentions changes to towing policy. Companies are now required to release vehicles if the towing process has begun, but the vehicle has not left the parking area and if the owner pays a release fee of up to $100.

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