Is Removing a Parking Boot Illegal in Atlanta?
What Atlanta drivers should know about parking boots, the myth that removing one is a crime, and how to protect yourself.
You walk back to your car in an Atlanta parking garage and find a bright yellow clamp locked onto your wheel, along with a sticker warning you that tampering with the device is a crime and that you must call a number and pay before your car moves. It is intimidating by design. Most people pull out their wallet, pay whatever number the booting company gives them, and drive off angry. But the threat printed on that sticker is not the whole story.
The Myth That Taking Off a Boot Is a Crime
Booting companies in Atlanta have pushed the idea that removing a boot from your own vehicle is illegal. That message has been repeated so often that even some lawyers have echoed it. It is not true.
Removing a boot from your own car is not a crime as long as you do not damage the device, steal it, or make it unusable. If you take it off, put it back together, and set it right there where the company can retrieve it, you have not taken anyone’s property and you have not destroyed anything. The company still has its equipment. You still have your car. That is the whole point.
The fear factor is doing most of the work here. Booting companies rely on drivers assuming that police will show up and arrest them if they touch the device. In practice, when officers arrive and see that the boot is intact and sitting on the ground, there is nothing for them to act on.
What Police Actually Do When They Show Up
This has been tested directly. A boot was removed in an Atlanta parking garage in front of APD officers who had been called to the scene, with cameras rolling and the people involved openly identifying themselves. The officers arrived already knowing what was happening. They saw the situation for what it was and wiped their hands of it. No arrest.
That outcome tells you a lot about how thin the legal threat really is. Officers are not eager to make an arrest over property that was returned undamaged to the person who owns it.
Protect Yourself Before You Touch Anything
None of this means you should get into a confrontation in a parking deck. Booting disputes can escalate quickly, and the people who show up to collect are not always calm or predictable. In one of these situations, a man arrived with a gun he was not supposed to have. That is the real risk in a booting dispute, not a criminal charge.
If you are dealing with a boot on your car, take a few steps to keep yourself safe and protected:
Document everything before you do anything. Photograph the boot on the wheel, the signage in the lot, the sticker on your window, and the surrounding area. If there is no clear signage warning that vehicles will be booted, that matters.
Record the removal. If you take the boot off, film it. Show that the device is intact when you set it down. Video is the single best answer to any later claim that you damaged or stole the equipment.
Do not damage the device. Take it apart carefully, reassemble it, and leave it in plain sight near where your car was parked. Damaging or removing the boot from the property changes the analysis entirely.
Do not engage physically. If someone from the booting company confronts you, leave. Call the police yourself if you feel threatened. Your safety is worth more than the boot fee.
Keep your receipts if you pay. If you decide it is not worth the hassle and you pay, save everything. You may still have options for recovering an improper charge later.
When a Parking Dispute Turns Into an Injury
If a booting confrontation turns physical or someone brandishes a weapon, you are no longer dealing with a parking dispute. You are dealing with a potential assault and a potential premises liability issue for the property owner who hired that company. Get medical attention, file a police report, and preserve your photos and video.
If you were hurt during a parking or towing confrontation in Atlanta, talk to a lawyer before you accept anyone’s version of what happened.
Full Transcript
Do you remember we basically tried to get arrested at the parking garage, like purposely got a car booted, called the booting company. We had a film guy out there told APD to show up like, hey, come and arrest us because the controversy was the boot companies was putting out the idea that taking the boot off was illegal.
There were even lawyers out there repeating and regurgitating this nonsense that take the boot off. Was illegal, right? No, it’s not. As long as you don’t damage it or steal it or make it unusable, you just take it off. Boom. Put it back together. Set it right there.
Remember, Buddy showed up with a gun and he wasn’t supposed to have a gun. We tried to get arrested. We tried our hardest. Like we took them off right in front of APD. They knew who we were. When they got there, they already knew what was up. They seen us. They seen the girls. They seen the cameras. They already knew what was up. Yeah. And they. Wipe their hands of it.