Nashville booting company sues Tennessee over new state law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Nashville booting company, Nashville Booting LLC is suing Tennessee’s governor and attorney general over a new state law they claim “legislates them out of existence.”

The law, which went into effect July 1 , places regulations on booting companies across the state, including capping the boot removal fee at $75, requiring companies to remove the boot within 45 minutes of the car owner requesting its removal, and requiring booting companies to have a license to operate.

The bill’s sponsor previously told lawmakers the legislation is meant to target “bad actors” in the booting business.

“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. Those people need to be held accountable,” Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) said.

However, Nashville Booting LLC called the provision in the law banning commercial parking lot owners from using third-party booting companies “unconstitutional,” and claimed it will cause “irreparable harm” in a lawsuit against Tennessee.

“The Act effectively legislates Nashville Booting out of existence by requiring that only ‘owners’ of properties manage booting or towing vehicles parked on those properties,” the lawsuit said.

Nashville man, Steven Knapp called Nashville Booting LLC’s lawsuit “karma” after the same company booted his car without a valid permit, which is required by Metro Nashville’s booting ordinance.

“It’s interesting to see that a company like Nashville Booting that was found to not be following the rules for their business is now suing the state for passing a law meant to protect people from exactly that type of behavior,” Knapp said.

Nashville Booting LLC argued in the lawsuit the law prevents them from fulfilling services agreed upon in more than 60 contracts. The company also claimed it “takes great care to comply” with Metro Nashville’s booting code “at all times.”

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However, Knapp pointed out the company hadn’t followed the booting code when the Metro Nashville Transportation Licensing Commission ordered Nashville Booting LLC to refund around 400 drivers whose cars their employees booted when the company was operating on an expired permit.

“Nashville booting should read the room,” Knapp said. “If they’re going to go to court and demand to be able to continue this practice, they should not be lying to the court in which they seek favorable order from.”

During a recent Metro Nashville Transportation Licensing Commission meeting, an attorney for the city told members of the commission the new state law will create a lot of change for booting companies.

“It does seem to me to be very disruptive of their current business model,” said Theresa Costonis, with Metro Legal.

The state law temporarily banned booting across TN when it went into effect July 1 until local municipalities can pass ordinances regulating booting in compliance with the new legislation.

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News 2 reached out to an attorney for Nashville Booting LLC and the Attorney General’s Office for comment but had not heard back by the time this article was published.

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