How to dispute a tow in The Fan
Think a tow near The Fan was wrong? Virginia law gives you specific, enforceable rights, even before the yard budges.
What Virginia law says
Virginia doesn't run one statewide towing complaint agency the way some states do. What state law actually gives you is a set of specific, enforceable rules, and real recourse if an operator breaks them. Every towing business has to display its complete fee list at its main office and at the vehicle-recovery site, and it can't collect more than what's posted, so start by comparing your invoice against that posted list. If the operator refuses to release your car once you've tendered payment by cash, an insurance company check, a certified check, a money order, or a credit card, under § 46.2-1217, that refusal suspends any further storage charge from that point forward, which matters if a yard is stalling. If the tow itself skipped a required step, most commonly the operator failing to notify state or local police immediately after removing your vehicle under § 46.2-1231, that's a traffic infraction with a fine up to $100, and it caps the storage charge at just one day. Report a violation like that to the police department in whichever jurisdiction ordered or allowed the tow: Richmond's non-emergency line is (804) 646-5100, Henrico's is (804) 501-5000, and Chesterfield's is (804) 748-1251 or CCPD@chesterfield.gov. Each locality also runs its own towing advisory board, required by § 46.2-1233.2 to meet at least annually, with equal representation from law enforcement, licensed tow operators, and the public, Richmond's Advisory Board for the Assessment of Towing Fees has run since 1996, and Chesterfield's Towing Advisory Board since 2016. These boards set and review local fee policy rather than adjudicate a single dispute, but a pattern of complaints against one operator is exactly what they exist to catch. Quick Tow Richmond is a referral service, not the police or either county's advisory board. We can't resolve someone else's dispute or waive fees, but we can help with transport once it's sorted out.
How it works in The Fan
- 1 Compare the invoice to the posted fee list
Every towing business has to display its complete fee schedule at its main office and the recovery site, and can't charge more than what's posted.
- 2 Check whether the required steps were followed
An operator that skips notifying police immediately after a nonconsensual tow commits a traffic infraction and caps its own storage charge at one day.
- 3 Try to pay and document what happens
If you tender payment by cash, insurance check, certified check, money order, or card and the operator still won't release the car, further storage charges stop accruing under § 46.2-1217.
- 4 Report it to the right department
Richmond's non-emergency line is (804) 646-5100, Henrico's is (804) 501-5000, and Chesterfield's is (804) 748-1251 or CCPD@chesterfield.gov.
- 5 Know where policy-level complaints go
Each locality's towing advisory board reviews fee policy and operator conduct at least annually. It's the venue for a pattern of problems, not a same-day fix.
- 6 Retrieve your vehicle and keep your paperwork
Keep the invoice, any signage photos, and your payment record. Quick Tow Richmond can't resolve someone else's dispute since we're not the yard.
What this looks like around The Fan
Disputed tows in {c} usually trace back to Richmond's own contracted towing program. Report a violation to the non-emergency line at (804) 646-5100, and know the city's Advisory Board for the Assessment of Towing Fees has reviewed towing policy here since 1996.
Towing calls concentrate harder in the Fan than almost anywhere else in Richmond, because parking here is genuinely limited, something the city's own towing oversight board points to directly. VCU, with more than 28,000 students enrolled as of fall 2024, anchors its Monroe Park Campus in the Fan, and that drives constant vehicle turnover around move-in and move-out weeks. Narrow one-way streets mean a single illegally parked car can block an entire block. Add event traffic around the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Boulevard corridor, plus Monument Avenue's namesake landmark, now honoring Arthur Ashe rather than any Confederate figure, and private-lot and residential-permit tows stay busy year-round. Every one of them runs through Seibert's Towing, Richmond's exclusive contractor since 1992. Check apps.richmondgov.com/applications/towviewing first, or call (804) 646-5100, before filing a stolen-vehicle report. Richmond's 2025 fee ordinance reportedly moved the local hookup cap toward $195, still under Virginia's statewide $210 ceiling; confirm the current number with Seibert's or the city before paying. Narrow, tree-lined Victorian streets with aging storm drains flood fast in summer downpours, which only tightens the Fan's already thin on-street parking margin.
The Fan and the adjoining Museum District hold some of Richmond's densest historic housing stock, narrow, tree-lined Victorian-era streets built decades before anyone parked a car on them. VCU's Monroe Park Campus sits right in the middle of it, and with close to 29,000 students enrolled, move-in week, move-out week, and every semester break flood these one-way blocks with vehicles that don't have a legal spot to go to. A single car parked wrong can block an entire block here, and private-lot and residential-permit tows follow fast. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the Boulevard corridor pull their own event traffic on top of the daily student volume, and aging storm drains under those same narrow streets pond quickly in a summer downpour. We cover Monument Ave, the VMFA, and the VCU campus, and the operators we dispatch run wheel-lift for most calls and flatbed when a tight one-way block or a parking structure calls for it.
Common The Fan questions
Who do I contact to dispute a tow in The Fan?
Report it to the police department in whichever jurisdiction ordered the tow: Richmond at (804) 646-5100, Henrico at (804) 501-5000, or Chesterfield at (804) 748-1251.
Can a tow yard refuse to release my car if I try to pay in The Fan?
No. Under Va. Code § 46.2-1217, an operator can't refuse cash, an insurance company check, a certified check, a money order, or a credit card, and refusing suspends any further storage charge.
Is there a state agency I can file a towing complaint with in The Fan?
Virginia doesn't run one dedicated statewide towing complaint agency. Report a specific violation to local police, and know that each locality's towing advisory board reviews operator conduct and fee policy at least annually.
Can Quick Tow Richmond settle my tow dispute in The Fan?
No. We are a referral service, not the police or a towing advisory board. We can't resolve a dispute or waive fees, but we can help with transport once it's resolved.
Related help for The Fan
Disputing a tow in the rest of the Richmond Core area
Need your car towed once it's released in The Fan?
We can't waive the yard's fees. We can tow it home the moment it clears.