Storage hold timeline · Northwest Side, IL

Is there a 30-day impound hold in Northwest Side?

Searching for a 30-day impound hold near Northwest Side? Chicago does not run one. Here is the real clock that applies.

The short version

What Illinois law says

The 30-day impound hold is a California rule that people carry with them when they move, and it does not describe what happens here. What Chicago actually has is a storage floor and a release restriction, and they are two different things. The storage floor is that a vehicle is normally kept no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner, with a right to one 15-day extension. The release restriction is that vehicles impounded for certain offences cannot be released at the pound at all and require a visit to the Vehicle Impoundment Office at 400 W Superior. Neither of those is a punitive 30-day hold, and confusing them will cost you storage days you did not need to pay for.

Step by step

How it works in Northwest Side

  1. 1
    Do not assume 30 days means a hold

    There is no Illinois or Chicago rule that locks a vehicle up for 30 days after a DUI tow. If you have heard that figure, it almost certainly came from another state's law.

  2. 2
    Find out whether there is a hold at all

    Vehicles impounded for narcotics, solicitation, fly dumping, firearms, defacement, fleeing and eluding, noise, drag racing, DUI, fireworks, a suspended or revoked licence, littering, reckless driving and several other reasons cannot be released at the pound and require the Vehicle Impoundment Office at 400 W Superior.

  3. 3
    Know the real storage clock

    Inside the city, storage runs no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner. That is the point at which disposal becomes possible, not the point at which you are allowed to collect the car.

  4. 4
    Use the 15-day extension if you need it

    Under 9-92-100(a) the registered owner has the right to one extension of 15 days before the vehicle is sold or otherwise disposed of. Ask for it from the Auto Pound Office at 312.746.4954.

  5. 5
    Watch what storage is costing you

    At $50 a day for a vehicle under 8,000 pounds and $100 a day at or above it, a fortnight of indecision costs more than most people expect. There is no benefit to waiting.

  6. 6
    Confirm your own case by phone

    General questions go to the Bureau of Traffic Services at 312.746.4954, Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm. A suburban impound is a different phone call entirely, to the department that ordered the tow.

Northwest Side context

What this looks like around Northwest Side

Inside the city the number that matters is 21, not 30, and it is a floor rather than a ceiling: vehicles are normally stored no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice, and under 9-92-100(a) the registered owner has a right to one extension of 15 days before the vehicle is sold or otherwise disposed of. Storage keeps accruing at $50 or $100 a day the whole time.

Winter parking-ban tows on the Northwest Side go to Pound 2 at 103rd and Doty Avenue or Pound 6 at 701 N Sacramento, and the city's winter page publishes its own fee set for those: a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and $25 per day storage. That is a different set from the $250 and $50 per day published under 9-92-080, and both come from the city. A City of Chicago tow has published fees: $250 to tow a vehicle under 8,000 pounds and $350 at 8,000 pounds or more, with storage at $50 or $100 per day on the same weight split, under Municipal Code 9-92-080. Payment is cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or Diners Club only, with no checks and no money orders. To release a vehicle you need photo identification, proof of ownership as a title, a current registration card or a bill of sale under 30 days old, current state plates and a Chicago Vehicle Sticker where required, and all charges and fines paid in full. Vehicles are normally stored no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice, with a right to one 15-day extension under 9-92-100(a); request it from the Auto Pound Office at 312.746.4954.

The Northwest Side is Chicago's Polish and Mexican bungalow belt and the Spanish-language center of the North Side. Belmont Cragin holds roughly 72,100 residents and is 78.1 percent Hispanic, Portage Park about 63,000 and 40.9 percent Hispanic, Hermosa 22,600 and 84.9 percent Hispanic, Montclare 14,300 and 60.7 percent, Dunning 41,200 and 36.7 percent, Jefferson Park 26,600 and 26.9 percent. The Kennedy Expressway cuts diagonally across the entire side with the Blue Line running in its median, and Milwaukee Avenue, the old Northwest Plank Road, runs the same diagonal at street level. Six Corners at Irving Park, Cicero and Milwaukee is one of the best-known intersections in the city, and the Portage Theater and the Copernicus Center at the Jefferson Park transit center anchor the two commercial cores. Montrose station sits in the Kennedy median. This is where the winter overnight parking ban bites hardest in residential Chicago: the ban runs on 107 miles of arterials from 3am to 7am, December 1 through April 1, whether or not snow is present, and Milwaukee, Irving Park and Cicero are exactly that kind of street. Bungalow blocks with short driveways and shared gangways produce the blocked-driveway calls the city routes through 312-746-4520. Operators cover the Kennedy corridor, Six Corners and the Milwaukee Avenue spine, and we answer in Spanish here as a matter of course.

Northwest Side impound FAQs

Common Northwest Side questions

Does Illinois really hold a car 30 days after a DUI tow in Northwest Side?

No. There is no 30-day impound hold in Illinois that works the way people describe. What exists in Chicago is a storage floor of no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice, plus a rule that vehicles impounded for DUI and a list of other offences cannot be released at the pound and require the Vehicle Impoundment Office at 400 W Superior.

How fast can I get my car back after a tow in Northwest Side?

If there is no hold on it, as soon as you can get to the pound with the right documents and pay the charges in full. The four City of Chicago pounds are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A suburban impound will have its own hours, so call first.

What happens if I don't deal with my car within 21 days in Northwest Side?

The city may dispose of it or sell it at auction under 9-92-100, and you still owe the fines and fees. You do have a right to one 15-day extension, but storage accrues throughout at $50 or $100 a day, so an extension buys time rather than money.

Can Quick Tow Chicago confirm my car's release date in Northwest Side?

No. Only the authority holding the vehicle can tell you that, and for a city pound that means 311 and the Bureau of Traffic Services at 312.746.4954. We can help you work out who to call and move the car once it is released. Call (773) 830-6930.

Nearby

Storage hold timeline in the rest of the Chicago City Sides area

Serving Northwest Side

Need your car towed once it's released in Northwest Side?

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