Our Mission

A vehicle impound serves several key purposes, primarily related to law enforcement, public safety and legal processes. The most common reasons for vehicle impoundment are:

• Evidence of a crime or the vehicle was involved in criminal activity, or contains evidence that needs to be preserved for investigation or court proceedings.
• Public safety: Impounding helps remove vehicles that pose hazards—such as those parked illegally, abandoned, dangerously defective, or in unsafe locations—from public areas.
• Traffic and regulation enforcement: Local Authorities will impound vehicles for unresolved parking or moving violations, violations of local laws or ordinances, or when vehicles are illegally parked in restricted zones.
• Deterrence and prevention: Vehicle impoundment, especially in cases like repeat DUI offenses, is also used to prevent future violations and ensure public safety.

Once impounded, a vehicle is held in a secure lot until the legal issue is resolved (such as payment of fines, investigation, or court judgment). If unclaimed, it may be auctioned, recycled, or otherwise disposed of according to the law of the local jurisdiction.

Time is your enemy when your vehicle is impounded. The hard-earned equity in your vehicle shrinks with every day the vehicle sits behind a fence, earning the storage yard operator another $100 per day!

The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) 18 U.S. Code § 2721 governs the release and use of certain personal information from state motor vehicle records:

General Prohibition: State departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) and their employees/contractors cannot knowingly disclose or make available personal information or highly restricted personal information about individuals obtained in connection with a motor vehicle record, except as allowed in specific statutory exceptions.

1. Personal Information: Defined under 18 U.S.C. § 2725(3) (includes name, address, social security number, etc.).
2. Highly Restricted Personal Information: Defined under 18 U.S.C. § 2725(4) (includes medical or disability information).
3. Permissible Uses: Disclosure is allowed for a variety of specific purposes, such as:
   • Motor vehicle or driver safety and theft
   • Motor vehicle emissions and recalls
   • Insurance claims, antifraud activities, rating/underwriting
   • Organ, tissue, and eye donor information
   • Law enforcement and legal proceedings
   • Employment verification (for CDL holders)
   • Research activities (with restricted further disclosure)
   • Notification of vehicle owners of towed or impounded vehicles
   • Use by licensed private investigators/security services
   • Any use for government agency functions related to motor vehicle operation or public safety
   • Use by licensed private investigators/security services
4. Consent Exception: Highly restricted personal information may only be released with the express consent of the individual, except for certain allowed uses as specified by statute.
5. Recordkeeping, Penalties, and Enforcement: States must comply or face civil penalties, and unauthorized disclosure can result in liability and civil action.
6. State Law Preemption: Federal law supersedes state laws that offer less protection to driver data, but states can have stricter privacy protections.

These provisions ensure that personal information obtained through DMVs is protected and only disclosed for legitimate, tightly regulated purposes. It was enacted in 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and is codified at Chapter 123 of Title 18 of the United States Code. The DPPA governs the privacy and disclosure of personal information collected by state Departments of Motor Vehicles and sets nationwide standards for the protection of such data.

The DPPA was introduced to protect the identity of vehicle owners that could be obtained through Public Motor Vehicle Data Platforms. Originally, the identity and addresses of vehicle owners were being utilized as a deterrent to protest & stalk individuals seeking abortion procedures. While Motor Vehicle Registration Data is considered public data, along with accident data, there are specific channels that must be followed for the proper release to “concerned” or “involved” parties. While this legislation is benevolent for the most part, it does not benefit the vehicle owner that falls victim to a non-consensual tow and impound. In fact, the federal government has inadvertently empowered private towing companies to victimize vehicle owners and essentially “hide” the vehicle with no federal requirement for reporting.

Why is this happening? The DPPA is a very benevolent piece of legislation, however, local municipalities control towing, impound and storage activities independently. Since there are no federal standards, limits or controls, private towing & storage operators are not required to report vehicle impounds in a timely manner. Some municipalities require reporting in 48 hours, some do not require or police the reporting at all which leaves the vehicle owner exposed to predatory practices and abuse.

OutPOUND is here to change that and prevent the loss of vehicles to predatory storage operations that are empowered by local governing bodies. If your vehicle is towed and impounded, you should receive immediate notification without delay.
OutPOUND is here to change the nature of Impound Reporting and make impound data available the same day as the tow.

The Vehicle Impound Yard is “jail for your car.” It’s important to understand that jail is not free for your vehicle. It’s worse than jail because you are paying by the night like a nice hotel so your vehicle can sit behind a fence. That’s right! You gave up a nice weekend at the beach to have your car towed and locked up while you pay a premium for the privilege.

Local governments simply can’t keep roadways safe and clear of vehicles efficiently. That is why they outsource the towing and storage services to private sources. These independent businesses must purchase expensive heavy equipment and operate storage and impound facilities for local municipalities. These towns and cities enable these privateers by awarding them lucrative government contracts to manage geographic areas (a.k.a. Turf) and remove vehicles from roadways quickly. The government benefits because it is unable to perform these services in a cost-effective manner. They enable the private towing contractor to recover fees for their services from the vehicle owners, their insurance companies, parents, friends and relatives. Once they have your vehicle, you are beholden to the Impound Yard who can make your life miserable by delaying the release of your vehicle anyway possible!

Statistics show that these Impound Yards tow 70,000+ vehicles each day in the United States. Interestingly, they are not compensated on a significant portion of the vehicles they touch because the vehicles are abandoned by the owner and must be sold for scrap. Almost half of all vehicle impounds are not reimbursed and the vehicles must be sold to make a modest recovery, in most cases resulting in a loss for the storage yard. That means the other 50% of “paying transactions” will be charged handsomely to make up for the losses.

Let’s take a look at two different scenarios in which the owner was unable to pay the fees to get their vehicle released:

Impound Yards provide services to local governments according to contracts awarded periodically. They cannot pick and choose which vehicles they tow & impound. Because many of these transactions result in a loss, they are quick to leverage as much as they can from a vehicle owner that has “the ability” to pay. If the vehicle owner does not have the funds to pay the storage charges, they are going after your equity in the vehicle. Make no mistake…they will seize your vehicle, get a court-ordered title, sell your vehicle at auction and keep 100% of the proceeds!