DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

QEVfice of the Plttornep Q3ettersl 

&State of IEexas 

March 10, 1995 

Honorable Clyde Alexander 

Chair 

Committee on Transportation 

Texas House of Representatives 

P.O. Box 2910 

A&n, Texas 78768.2910 

Opiion No. DM-330 

Re: Whether a statutorily mandated sign 

hmished by a towing company to a parking 

hciiity constitutes “anything of value” in 

cmtravention of article 67Olg-2, V.T.C.S., 

and a related question (RQ-696) 

Your predecessor asked us to interpret the meaning of the phrase kything of 

value” as it is used in article 6701g-2, sections 8 and 9, V.T.C.S. 

Article 6701g-2 is generaUy concerned with the towing of unauthorized vehicles 

from parking tkilities. Section 3(a) of the act permits the removal of such vehicles if the 

parking fkility owner has given the vehicle’s owner or operator adequate notice, which 

may include that “a sign or signs prohibiting unauthorized vehicles have been instahed on 

the parking faciity for at least 24 consecutive hours and remain installed at the time of 

towing.” V.T.C.S. art. 67Olg-2, 4 3(a)(l). 

Section 6 of the act provides the specifications for such a sign, which in&r alia 

must be weather-resistant, at least 18 inches wide and 24 inches tall, and “$ntain a 

current telephone number, including the area code, that is answered 24 hours a day to 

enable the owner or operator of a towed vehicle to locate it.” Id. § 6(b)(7). It is our 

understanding that generally the telephone number posted is that of the towing company 

which has arranged with the parking faciity owner to tow unauthorized vehicles from that 

lot. 

Sections 8 and 9 of the act prohibit the towing company from giving, and the 

parking facility owner from~accepting “anything of value, directly or indirectly, &om a 

towing company in comtection with the removal of a vehicle 6om a parking facility.” Id. 

§ 8. These sections also prohibit parking facilities and towing companies which have such 

a relation from having a monetary interest in each other. 

Ordinarily, your predecessor informed us, the signs mandated by the legislation, 

which cost approximately twenty dollars, are owned by the towing company whose 

telephone number is on them. Your predecessor therefore asked two questions: first, 

whether the giving and/or loaning of such signs by the towing company to the parking 

facility owner constitutes the offer of “anything of value” under the statute; and second, 
Honorable Clyde Alexander - Page 2 (~~-330) 

whether the parking facility owner or the towing company should bear the cost of 

installmg the signs. 

The act does not defbte “anything of value.” We are therefore charged to read 

these words in accordance with their natural, ordinary, and popular meaning. 67 TEX. 

RJR. 3D Stahrres 8 100, at 674 (1989). We think it clear that, though the value of such a 

sign as that at issue here may be small, it is not nonexistent. The statute would plainly 

prevent a towing company owner from giving the parking lot owner a twenty-dollar bii, 

or a twenty dollar loan. There is no legal difference between the bill or loan, and the sign. 

A sign of this sort has a cash value, and is therefore a thing of value for the purposes of 

the statute.’ 

As to your predecessor’s second question, in our view the responsibiity for 

placing the sign at the lot belongs to the lot’s owner. Sections 3 and 4 of the act make this 

clear. Section 3 permits the parking facility owner to cause unauthorized vehicles to be 

towed if the proper sign is in place. Section 4 allows the towing company to tow 

unauthorized vehicles away if, inter alia, “the towing company has received written 

veritication t?om the parking facility owner that the. owner has. caused signs to be 

installed.” V.T.C.S. art. 6701%2, 3 4(a)(l). 

The law imposes on the lot owner the obligation of providing notice to vehicle 

owners or operators by signs that meet its specifications.s 

tlthasbccnsuggatcdthatthcgiftorloanofsuchasignmaynotk’inconnectionwiththe 

removalofavehiclefromaparkingfacility.” Wedectinetonadthtsphrasctorefertopsrticalar 

mmovala. lo nor view, it refers to the whole contrac be.hwcn the facility owner and the towing company 

and the arrangements incident thereto. To read the phrase otherwise would permit the sort of kickbacks 

thesumrtewasdesignedtop-~onthe~thatthcydidnotrelatetoparticularrrmovala. 

olmioosly, this Is not what the legislatme lntoadod. 

p. 1749 
HonorableClyde Alexander - Page 3 (DM-330) 

SUMMARY 

A sign of the sort required to be posted at a parking facility by 

article 6701%2, V.T.C.S. is a thing of value for the purposes of 

sections 8 and 9 of that statute. The responsibility for posting such a 

sip rests, pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of the statute, on the owner 

of the parking facility concerned, rather h upon the towing 

company. 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

JORGE VEGA 

Fii Assistant Attorney General 

SARAH J. SHIRLEY 

Chair, Opiion Committee 

Prepared by James Tourtelott 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 1750