Houston reviews tow refunds after drivers win ParkHouston hearings, get nothing
Houston is reviewing ParkHouston tow hearings after two drivers won in court but still never got their refunds. The cases raise questions about how many other motorists may be owed money.
The City of Houston is reviewing ParkHouston tow-hearing judgments after two drivers won their cases but still were not paid the refunds they were owed, turning what should have been a closed consumer dispute into a systems-failure problem with money attached.
The cases involve Christina Washington and Tiffany Cooper, two motorists who each paid $303 to get their cars back from the private company the city contracts with for towing services. Washington said her night in Third Ward ended with her vehicle gone. “I came out, car gone. I'm like, got me,” she told ABC13.
Both women did something that almost no one else does after a ParkHouston tow: they filed tow-hearing requests in Harris County Justice of the Peace Court. City data cited in the report showed ParkHouston authorized nearly 10,000 tows from January 2025 through March 2026, but fewer than 40 people filed tow-hearing requests in that same 15-month span, or about 0.4% of ParkHouston-authorized tows.
The city’s review began after the issue was brought to its attention and after the two unpaid wins were identified. That matters because the problem is not just whether a tow was legal, but whether the city has a reliable way to track judgments and return money after a motorist prevails. If a driver wins and still has to chase a refund, the burden shifts back onto people who already paid to get their cars out.
The tow locations also point to where enforcement is hitting hardest. ABC13 identified tow hot spots in the 2400 block of Wheeler Avenue, the 1800 block of Southmore, the 2000 block of Wichita, the 1600 block of California, and the 1800 block of Center Street. Cooper’s tow happened in March 2025. Washington’s tow happened in November 2025.
Under Harris County Justice of the Peace Court rules, tow-hearing requests under Chapter 2308 of the Texas Occupations Code must be filed in Precinct 2, 3, 6 or 8. Texas consumer guidance says a motorist generally must request a tow hearing within 14 days of the tow if they believe their vehicle was wrongfully towed, stored or booted. ParkHouston is the city unit that handles parking citation payments and related parking enforcement, while the City of Houston Municipal Courts Department provides the hearing forum. The review now tests whether those systems can identify every affected motorist and pay what the city already owes.
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