What "probable cause" means when your car gets towed
When a vehicle is towed from private property without the owner's consent in Texas, the law doesn't ask whether the property owner felt justified. It asks whether probable cause existed for the removal — an objectively reasonable basis to believe the vehicle was parked in violation of the facility's posted, lawful restrictions. That question gets decided by a judge, at a hearing you have a statutory right to request. Tex. Occ. Code § 2308.452
The 14-day clock
The hearing request must contain specific items: your name, address, and phone; where and when the vehicle was towed; who authorized the removal; the towing company and storage facility (with their addresses and phone numbers); a copy of your receipt; and photographs of the posted signs — or a statement that none were posted. § 2308.456
What defeats probable cause
Permission or registration. If the vehicle was authorized to park — a registered guest vehicle, a valid permit, a tenant's assigned space — there is no violation to tow for. Timestamped proof (a registration confirmation, a screenshot with the date visible) is the strongest evidence in these cases.
Defective signage. Texas requires strict compliance with sign specifications: proper signs at each entrance, correct size and lettering, the international tow symbol, and a phone number answered 24 hours a day. A facility that fails any requirement generally cannot establish a lawful basis for the tow. § 2308.301–.302
Confusing or contradictory systems. A real example: a guest's plate was registered in an apartment complex's own resident portal four hours before the car was towed — but the property expected registration in a different app, a distinction management itself admitted confused residents. When a facility runs two parallel registration systems and accepts a registration in one of them, towing that vehicle anyway is a hard sell as "objectively reasonable."
What you can win
If the court finds no probable cause, the towing company and storage facility must reimburse your towing and storage fees, plus your filing fee and the reasonable cost of your sign photographs. § 2308.457–.458 Separately, a towing company or parking facility that violates Chapter 2308 can be liable in a civil suit for damages plus the fees — and if the violation was intentional, knowing, or reckless, for $1,000 plus three times the fees. § 2308.404
What to do in the first 48 hours
Photograph everything before it changes: the space you parked in, every sign at every entrance (with something for scale), and the state of any covered or missing signs. Save your registration or permission proof with timestamps intact. Get your receipt and read every line. Then calendar the deadline and file early — courts don't extend it because you were still gathering evidence.