City of Chicago Sued Over Alleged Practice of ‘Towing Without Telling’

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The City of Chicago is the defendant a proposed class action filed in state court over its alleged practice of towing and selling vehicles it considers to be abandoned without properly notifying the vehicles’ owners.

This policy, which the suit dubs “towing without telling,” allegedly violates an Illinois state law that was amended in 2005 to require municipalities with populations of more than 500,000 to provide “additional notice” to owners of impounded vehicles before disposing of their cars. The amendment, the lawsuit explains, was meant to target Chicago specifically, with legislators calling attention to a plague of “towing abuses” in the city. Nevertheless, more than a decade after the law was amended, the alleged abuses continue, the case says, citing a local news investigation that reported 93,857 vehicles had been towed in 2017 alone.

The plaintiff behind the suit is a senior citizen who uses a wheelchair for mobility. She claims her van, outfitted with special lifting equipment that allowed her to enter and exit the vehicle in her wheelchair, was parked legally on the street outside her house when it was towed by the City. 

According to the lawsuit, a City employee put a sticker on the van’s window on June 5, 2018 that stated the vehicle would be considered abandoned and towed if it was not moved within seven days. The plaintiff’s daughter noticed “[s]everal days later” that the van was missing but was given no information about the vehicle’s whereabouts when she called the City and the police. The plaintiff’s daughter was apparently told “at some point” that the van had been towed and claims she was “repeatedly given the runaround” when she attempted to retrieve the vehicle, which by that time was accruing hefty storage fees on top of the initial towing fee, the suit says.

The plaintiff’s daughter, the case goes on, was eventually told that the vehicle had been sold to the company that towed it, United Road Towing, and was then sold to a scrap yard, where it was stripped and crushed.

“At no point prior to the tow was Plaintiff provided any notice by mail warning her that her Van may be towed,” the complaint states, claiming that the City also failed to provide additional notice before disposing of the vehicle. More from the complaint:

“In short, the City takes vehicles with no warning or opportunity to contest the claim of abandonment prior to the seizure. While the City allegedly sends a notice of impoundment to the owner after it has already been impounded, it fails to send the required additional notice when the City intends on disposing of the vehicle. As a result, thousands of cars are in effect stolen from citizens of Chicago and sold without proper notice and due process.”

The full complaint can be read below.