Booting rewrite would strike Atlanta’s $600 late-return fee provision

Atlanta’s proposed vehicle-booting rewrite would delete a city-code provision authorizing late fees of $50 a day, capped at $600 per device, when someone fails to return a self-release parking boot to a designated drop-off location.⁠[1]

The distinction is in the redline: the late-return language is crossed out, not added. The proposed deletion concerns the city’s authorization for that separate charge—not the ordinary boot-removal fee.⁠[1]

The substitute also would repeal the requirement to register vehicles used by booting services with the Atlanta Police Department. The provision marked for repeal requires those registrations to be renewed annually.⁠[1]

For boot removal, the proposal specifies daily ceilings of $75 for standard passenger vehicles, motorcycles and trucks, and $125 for heavy-duty or commercial vehicles. Those would be all-inclusive rates, without administrative, processing, retrieval, travel, labor or convenience charges. Payment could be made by cash, check, credit card or debit card at no additional charge.⁠[1]

Other provisions would extend the written-contract requirement to booting on any private property, not just paid parking facilities. Operators also would have to put a removable sticker on the driver’s-side window identifying the service, the number to request boot removal and the fee.⁠[1]

None of those proposed changes should be mistaken for an established approval. The Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee unanimously held ordinance 26-O-1547 on Sept. 28. It is listed for the committee’s Oct. 26 meeting at 1 p.m., with the agenda carrying forward the hold for additional information and review. The records reviewed here do not establish adoption.⁠[1][2]

Under the substitute, amendments would take effect upon approval, except that any newly required signs would not have to be posted before Jan. 1, 2027.⁠[1]