Immobilizing a car with a boot is illegal in most of Georgia except the cities of Atlanta and Decatur. As of December 2021, a Georgia Supreme Court ruling states that vehicles can only be booted in areas with ordinances in place.
According to WSB-TV, this was due to a man named Forest Allen who sued the owner and tenants of a shopping center in Dekalb County after his car was booted in 2018. He was required to pay $650 to have it removed. Justice Shawn LaGrua stated that there appeared to be no legal authority to use a common-law right to immobilize a vehicle on private property and hold them against the owner’s will until payment is received.
Christian Verrette, the owner of ATL Boot Key and Atlanta Ink, hopes to educate and alleviate this issue by fighting back on behalf of the community. He is selling copies of the boot keys that can successfully remove the boot without any damage to the vehicle, which according to Verrette is completely legal. Although we advise everyone to do their research.
“Booting on private property is currently legal in Atlanta if the booting company complies with certain rules,” according to a statement on Wetherington Law Firm’s website.
According to Verrette, there are certain procedures that booting companies need to follow to ethically boot a car, such as wearing the proper uniform, having a visible permit in their car, and allowing a certain amount of time to pass before booting a car. A boot should also not cost more than $45 to remove to make it a legal practice but the average price is between $75-$150. Verrette believes booting companies are preying on people in the city of Atlanta.
“Only people in Atlanta get this, so it’s an inside joke. Anytime you’ve left the club or the grocery store and you walk out and have a boot on your car man, it just hurts your heart. It hurts your wallet, and it affects us the most. You know this is a Black city, and sometimes we don’t have $75. Sometimes they even try to charge $100 to $150 for these boots,” Verrette shared.
Verrette hopes to help Atlanta residents avoid the financial pain of having their car booted.
