Predatory towing practices are bad enough. It’s even worse when the company doing it doesn’t legally exist anymore, but keeps towing vehicles anyway. That’s why the city of Gastonia, North Carolina, is suing Jack’s Towing and Recovery Service, reports the Charlotte Observer.
The situation has been brewing for a while, but things started coming to a head when Audra Cline made a Facebook post detailing exorbitant towing fees. Her daughter had attended a worship event at the Fuse baseball park on March 19, and parked across the street at Taylor Smith Appliances, where Jack’s Towing had towed and impounded her car. Cline posted a receipt for a $1,195 towing bill, stating that the business also promised an additional $100 charge per day the car was left in impound. The receipt sports a “BBB” logo, but Jack’s Towing isn’t currently accredited with the Better Business Bureau.
While there were “no parking” signs, and Cline’s daughter had parked in violation of them, she likely didn’t see them, as they were not posted prominently at the entrance to the lot as city ordinance requires, reports Gaston Gazette – that’s part of the lawsuit, too. Additionally, while Cline was allowed to pay her bill with a credit card, not everyone was granted that courtesy. Lisa Montgomery had her car towed from the same lot the day before on March 18, and was required to pay cash. City ordinances require cash and credit card payment options for these types of tows. The company has many complaints on Reddit and Facebook, and currently has a rating of 1.6 stars on Yelp.
A ghost company
As a result of these complaints, the City of Gastonia filed a lawsuit against Jack’s Towing and Recovery Service on March 20. This could become a bit complicated because the State of North Carolina dissolved the limited liability corporation on November 21, 2025, for failing to file its annual report. By complete coincidence, Jack’s Towing just happened to file for reinstatement of the LLC on March 20, the same date that Gastonia filed its lawsuit against the company. The application included the annual report that Jack’s had allegedly failed to file last year.
At this point, the city is only seeking an injunction against Jack’s that would prevent them from violating city ordinances, such as accepting credit cards and proper signage, in the future, according to WBTV. While that sounds a lot like “Stop, or I’ll say stop again,” current state law does not give cities the authority to do much more. A bill proposed in 2025 would set limits on towing fees, limit towing distance, and require companies to log each tow in a statewide database. Congressman Tim Moore also shared Audra Cline’s Facebook post with the following comment:
This was shared with me by a couple of constituents. I will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Jack’s Towing Company of Lowell for fraudulent predatory towing. If any property owners are conspiring with this company they should also be examined.
Not that we can trust the DOJ to do the right thing these days, but it sounds like further investigation is in order here.
