Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Thursday his office reached an agreement for a $1 million settlement with Wyatt’s Towing, after alleging the company towed vehicles without proper permits or authority, charged fees without documentation and kept too much in proceeds from the sale of towed vehicles at auctions.

Wyatt’s Towing denied all of the allegations, according to the settlement document, but still agreed to pay the settlement.

Weiser’s office found the towing behemoth — which operates under a number of trade names throughout the metro area and state of Colorado — violated Colorado’s Consumer Protection Act in multiple ways discovered through an investigation of the company that began on Oct. 7, 2022.

Colorado towing company faces scrutiny after towing legislator's vehicle

According to the settlement agreement, the state alleges Wyatt’s Towing towed hundreds of vehicles during several periods where their state towing permits had lapsed and only refunded customers who had made a complaint to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. During two permit lapses, the AG’s office alleges Wyatt’s made more than $100,000 from towing fees and auction sales of vehicles.

The allegations also claim the company towed more than 3,000 vehicles during a period of one month after the state’s Towing Bill of Rights took effect, which barred tow truck drivers from authorizing tows from residential property, only ceasing that practice when the Public Utilities Commission informed the company they were in violation of the law.

Under state law, towing carriers can only charge a notification fee and storage fees if they’ve notified the owner of a vehicle about a non-consensual tow by certified mail. The investigation found about 2,000 owners of vehicles were charged a notification fee of at least $75 without any documentation by Wyatt’s that the statutory requirements of notification had been met.

If towed vehicles are found to be abandoned at a tow lot, a towing carrier can sell the vehicle to recover the cost of the tow and any other fees incurred by the towing operator. State law previously required the towing carrier to pay any proceeds of the sale to the Colorado Department of Revenue, which would disperse the money to the owner of the vehicle.

For more on this story and others, visit The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9News.