A running car can still face removal from a Memphis street or parking area. If it’s titled to someone else, your first move is to identify the sticker’s issuer and contact the registered owner.
Don’t assume starting the engine solves the problem. The vehicle’s location, condition, title, registration, and parking status can each affect what happens next.
Read and document the sticker first
Photograph the sticker while it’s still attached. Capture every name, date, reference number, location, and instruction you can read. Take wider photos showing the car, nearby signs, parking lines, curb markings, and its surroundings.
Next, determine who placed the notice. Use only the contact information printed on the sticker after confirming it through an official website. If no issuer appears, ask the property manager when the car is on private property. For a street location, use an official City of Memphis contact path.
The exact Memphis tagging period for a vehicle left on a street couldn’t be confirmed from the approved sources. Published information conflicts, so don’t rely on an online claim about how much time remains. Ask the issuing office to confirm the deadline and what action will clear the notice.
A running engine doesn’t automatically prevent an abandoned-vehicle tow. Tennessee’s current rules consider where the car sits, whether it has consent to remain, whether it’s illegally parked, and whether it appears in disrepair.
Expired registration alone is different. Tennessee doesn’t authorize a tow solely because the tags expired. Operating a vehicle with expired registration can still lead to a citation. A car may also qualify for removal under separate parking or abandoned-vehicle rules. Our guide to a car towed for expired registration explains that distinction.
Contact the person named on the title
The person using the car and its titled owner may not be the same person. That difference matters when you’re trying to move it, recover it, or correct its records.
Contact the titled owner immediately. Ask whether they’ll move the vehicle, complete the transfer, or provide the documents needed for the next step. Keep copies of your messages and any sale paperwork already exchanged.
For a normal Tennessee sale, the registered owner signs the assignment section on the back of the title. That section records the seller, buyer, sale date, price, and required odometer information. The signed, assigned title is the normal transfer document.
Tennessee doesn’t have a state-filed notice of sale or release-of-liability form. A bill of sale is still recommended, but it doesn’t replace the assigned title. If the title was lost, the registered owner can seek a duplicate through the county clerk. The Tennessee Department of Revenue provides the state’s vehicle-services information.
If the seller won’t cooperate, the ownership problem isn’t something a tow operator can fix. Contact the Shelby County Clerk and explain exactly which documents you possess. Ask what the clerk requires before attempting to register or title the car.
Don’t represent yourself as the owner when the records say otherwise. A tow sticker also doesn’t resolve an unfinished sale. Treat the notice and title transfer as two separate problems that both need attention.
Match your response to the parking location
A car beside a Midtown rental, in an East Memphis lot, and on a Cordova street may face different removal paths. Start by identifying whether the location is public property, a residential rental, or another private property.
Tennessee’s current abandoned-vehicle definition uses several conditions. On public property, it can cover a vehicle more than four years old and unattended for at least 10 days. It can also cover an obviously damaged vehicle left for at least three days, or a vehicle illegally parked for at least 48 hours.
On private property without consent, the definition can apply after 48 hours. Private residential property has a separate category without a stated waiting period in the enacted text. A vehicle left in a garage, trailer park, storage lot, or parking lot for more than 30 consecutive days is another category.
Residential rental property has its own rule. A landlord may tow an unauthorized vehicle after posting 10 days’ written notice on the vehicle. Immediate removal is allowed when the vehicle violates the landlord’s posted permit-parking policy.
Those rules don’t prove which one applies to your sticker. Ask the issuer to identify the reason for the notice. If it concerns a permit, get the current parking policy from the landlord or property manager. If it concerns a street or public property, ask the issuing office what record must be corrected.
Older webpages may cite Tennessee Code Title 55, Chapter 16. That entire chapter was repealed in 2024. Current towing and abandoned-vehicle rules are found in the re-enacted MOTION Act contained in 2025 Public Chapter 457.
If the car disappears before you resolve it
First, confirm that the titled owner didn’t move the car. Then ask the property manager or issuing office whether removal was authorized and where the vehicle was taken.
MPD, Shelby County Sheriff, and Housing and Community Development tows all process through the MPD Vehicle Storage Lot. Memphis doesn’t provide an online lookup tool for those vehicles. The official MPD Vehicle Storage page is the authoritative contact path.
A person who isn’t the owner needs more than the keys to collect a vehicle from the city lot. MPD requires a notarized statement from the owner naming that person, a legible copy of the owner’s photo identification, the plate or VIN, and the vehicle’s make and year.
An owner collecting the car must show proof of ownership, such as registration, title, or a lease. MPD also requires the plate or VIN and valid photo identification. A licensed driver must drive the vehicle away, or a separate tow must be arranged.
That makes early contact with the titled owner especially important. Without their cooperation, you may be unable to satisfy the city lot’s non-owner release requirements. Review what to bring for a Memphis impound release before traveling to the lot.
If a private operator removed the car, request the written authorization and related paperwork. Memphis rules require express written authorization for private-property tows. You can also review what an impound notice means in Memphis for the next documents to gather.
When to call us
Call when the titled owner has authorized a move and the car needs a working towing operator instead of being driven. We’ll take the details and match you with a local operator, who performs the work and contracts with you directly. Call us at (901) 557-8700.