Illinois poised to enact law that will lay down consumer regulations for rogue towing companies

CHICAGO (CBS) — The days of wondering where your towed car ended up could be over – as a bill heading to the governor’s desk will give drivers the chance to know immediately who towed their vehicle and where.

As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported Thursday night, one driver said the new legislation will eliminate the headache, the worry, and hopefully the confusion.

Drivers who get towed from a city-designated no parking zone know where to find their cars in the city’s impound lots. But this new law also sets guidelines for those rogue tow companies.

Daniel Cohen had a run-in with one of those companies.

“It was a nightmare,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish it on nobody.”

Cohen will never forget his car accident in 2019 in Chicago. While on the phone with his insurance company and taking to police, he recalled, “all of a sudden, a tow company pulled up.”

The driver from Get It Towing Inc. gave Cohen a business card with the logos of auto insurance companies whose insurance they accepted.

“(They) said they were here to pick up the car, take it to its destination – and then in the process, it never reached its destination,” Cohen said.

Instead, Cohen spent countless hours calling and looking for his car, and when he finally located it, there was new trouble.

Cohen: “It was a whole week before the individuals called me, and then tell me that I had to pay a ransom to get my car back.”

Terry: “And that’s how you feel? It was ransom?”

Cohen: “Yes, a ransom for my car.”

The tow company slapped Cohen with an invoice not only for the two, but for a hefty fee for the storage. He said it was to the tune of close to $5,000.

For years, the CBS 2 Investigators have exposed how private tow companies would deliberately hold vehicles. We uncovered in six months how one tow company racked up $150,000 with just 54 invoices.

Cohen told CBS 2 Investigator Dorothy Tucker in September 2019, “These people are some scammers.”

And after our investigations, lawmakers finally took action.

“Had her not even investigated it, it probably wouldn’t even have been a big issue,” Cohen said.

There will now be a statewide database. Towing companies must enter information regarding towed vehicles, and it must take place within an hour and a half of the tow.

The online portal will be available to the public.

If the company fails to use the database, it can no longer charge or collect for relocation or storage.

“It took a long time,” Cohen said. “It’s long overdue.”

The bill passed the Illinois State Senate on Thursday. It is awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.