Rule packs for towing, impound and lien rules

A rule pack holds the towing, impound and lien rules of one jurisdiction: any US state, the District of Columbia, or any Canadian province or territory. Once a pack is chosen, a yard record shows the dates the law sets, the checklists for intake, release, private-property tows and lien sales, and a notice template. Every value carries its citation. You will be able to give each location its own pack, so one business can work in several states or provinces.

Every pack is from official sources and is a starting point. Each pack states "From official sources, retrieved <date>; have it checked by someone who knows local law." Laws change after the retrieval date, and your business stays responsible for the rules that apply to it, including city and county rules.

Before you start #

You need the owner or manager role to choose packs and to add locations. Dispatchers can read them and can say where a vehicle is held.

Choose the pack for the whole business #

1. Open Settings in the web console and choose Towing rules.
2. Under Business-wide rule pack, choose a state, DC, province or territory. The line below it shows the retrieval date and how many of the 11 slots an official source filled.
3. Choose Save. Yard records without a location of their own use this pack. The sample pack stays on until you choose another.

Give each location its own pack #

A location is a yard or site with its own state or province, time zone and pack.

1. In Settings, Towing rules, find Add a location.
2. Enter a name, an optional address, the state or province, and the time zone (an IANA name such as America/Chicago; empty uses the business time zone).
3. Leave Rule pack on "The pack of the state or province" to use the pack of that state, or choose another pack.
4. Choose Add a location. The list above the form shows each location with its pack and where the rules come from. Change a location's pack from the list at any time.
5. Open a yard record. Under Held at, choose the location that holds the vehicle. The countdown, the checklists and the time zone follow that location. A vehicle with no location uses the business-wide pack and time zone.

A private-property impound is also a yard record, so it follows the location holding the vehicle. The release form prints the release checklist of that location's pack.

What the yard record shows #

• The pack name and where its rules come from, with the retrieval date.
• Dates for each step the pack states: the notice to the owner, the notice to lienholders, and the end of the waiting period before a sale or disposal. Each date lists its citation.
• "Check with your state" (or "Check with your province or territory") in place of any date or value that no official source states. The yard shows no date there, and your own judgment or your lawyer fills the gap.

Edit dates and wording #

Each pack has an owner notice template. Edit it in your own words with PATCH /compliance/templates/<kind>; the save checks that the merge fields the notice needs stay in the text. The business keeps its edited wording, and the pack's standard wording returns if you clear it. Day counts come from the sources; when your lawyer gives you a different count, record it in your notice wording and in the yard's notice log.

If something goes wrong #

• "rule_set must be sample or the id of a rule pack": use an id such as pennsylvania, us-ny or ca-on.
• A date is missing on the yard record: the pack has no official day count for it. The record shows "Check with your state".
• "region must be a US state, DC or Canadian province or territory": use a code such as US-NY or CA-ON.
• The accident tow ticket prints the Pennsylvania scene notice only when the business-wide pack is Pennsylvania, because tow calls carry no location yet.