State laws differ so you may need to contact your local police or a lawyer to find out what your rights are in your specific state regarding your personal items that are inside of a vehicle that was towed.

In general though tow truck companies that find out the person is not going to retrieve their vehicle take personal items out of it and inventory it and move the items to storage or to their office for the person to pick up.

We have heard of some tow services paying for people to pick up their items but it is our understanding that normally this should not be done since these are your possessions. It could be that they are technically charging taking inventory of your items or storing them in a container or bag however if a tow service is trying to keep your items from you or make you pay to get your possessions returned to you then you should check your state laws to see if this is okay for them to do or not.

From our research it appears that most states' laws provide that no condition may be put on the return of personal items. This means no one should make you sign any release or pay storage fees. The return of your items must be immediate upon request and unconditional according to most states' case law.

Depending on the reason that your car was towed a federal agency may also be of help. There is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that deals with consumer protection and consumer rights so depending upon your situation they also may be able to give advice.