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Philadelphia Council Bill Would Let Towed Vehicle Owners Avoid Storage Fees by Transferring Ownership to the City

Official:Amending Title 12 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Traffic Code," by permitting the record owner of an impounded vehicle to transfer ownership of the vehicle to the City, in lieu of incurring additional fees and charges for continued storage, revising penalty provisions and making technical changes, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Blackwell

Introduced: June 6, 2013

: Committee on Streets and Services

traffic vehicles

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2012–2015 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill allows the owner of a towed vehicle to transfer ownership to the City instead of paying additional storage fees. The owner must notify the Department within 15 days and pay all costs associated with the vehicle.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Allows the record owner of an impounded vehicle to transfer ownership of the vehicle to the City in lieu of paying additional storage fees.
Requires the owner to notify the Department within 15 days of being towed and pay all costs associated with the vehicle.
Revises penalty provisions related to towing and impounding of vehicles.
Requires the Department to send notice of removal to the owner of record of the vehicle within 5 days of towing, indicating the place to which the vehicle has been removed, the reason for its removal, applicable fees, and other information.