December 27, 2024

Eye On Illinois: Tighter regulations on towing industry are welcome reforms to vehicle theft victims

As we continue rounding out the year with quick hits on laws taking effect Jan. 1, consider Senate Bill 2654, which didn’t receive a single opposing vote in committees or before the full House and Senate.

This legislation offers two lessons: One, in macro: When operating inside the bounds of legality runs afoul of basic fairness, it might be time to change the rules. And two, in micro: If you’ve got a problem, pick up the phone and call someone.

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said a constituent who lives in Mount Greenwood contacted his office with a complaint: a thief stole their car from outside their home. Law enforcement found the car, which was towed in Alsip. A week later, the owner got a letter from the suburban tow company holding the vehicle. When the owner got to the tow lot, the company requested a $1,500 recovery fee and said they couldn’t so much as remove a hearing aid from the car without payment.

Obviously, tow companies deserve compensation for moving and storing vehicles, and clearly, local police and governments don’t want to be in that business. But just as blatant is understanding that people like Cunningham’s constituent shouldn’t be financially liable for being victims, to say nothing of adding insult to injury by holding hostage whatever happened to be inside a vehicle when the theft occurred.

The Illinois Vehicle Code previously allowed owners to recover certain items, but the new law clarifies medical devices are included in that list. More importantly, it requires towing companies to provide written notice to owners within two days of acquiring a vehicle and stipulates that if the owner retrieval happens within seven days, there are no storage fees.

“The rules we are putting in place will give car owners more rights when they go to recover their towed vehicle,” Cunningham said in April. “If we see more problems arise on this issue, we’ll be in a good place to be able to make further changes as needed.”

One suggestion is to put the onus somewhere – the tow companies, police, the Secretary of State – to utilize the information associated with vehicle registration to expedite contact. I get renewal registrations emailed and text messages confirming driver service facility appointments, so why would it make sense to wait several business days to get actual paper mail telling me where and how to recover a stolen car?

“What happened to this Mount Greenwood resident shouldn’t happen ever again in our state,” Cunningham said. “We’re putting rules and regulations in place for an industry that needs it.”

This law is a good first step. But the journey continues.

A full list of new legislation is available at tinyurl.com/2025newlawsIL.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.

Scott Holland

Scott T. Holland

Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media Illinois. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.