Storage hold timeline · Southwest Side, IL

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

Searching for a 30-day impound hold near Southwest 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 Southwest 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.

Southwest Side context

What this looks like around Southwest 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.

A Southwest Side tow inside the city goes to a City of Chicago pound, and the fees are published: $250 to tow a vehicle under 8,000 pounds, $350 at 8,000 pounds or more, and $50 or $100 per day storage on the same split. Payment is cash or major card only. Se habla espanol, and the corralon process is the same one either way. 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 Southwest Side is the Spanish-language core of Chicago and one of the densest Mexican-American areas in the United States. Gage Park is 88.8 percent Hispanic, West Lawn 88 percent, South Lawndale, which everyone calls Little Village, 80.7 percent with about 69,900 residents, Archer Heights 79.5 percent, Brighton Park 78.8 percent, the Lower West Side, which everyone calls Pilsen, 68.2 percent, New City, which everyone calls Back of the Yards, 67.5 percent, Chicago Lawn 61 percent and Garfield Ridge 59.1 percent. The Stevenson Expressway runs along the district's northern edge with Pilsen exits at Damen and Ashland, Archer Avenue runs the old diagonal, and Cermak, Western, Ashland and Pulaski carry the rest. Twenty-Sixth Street in Little Village hosts the largest Hispanic parade in Chicago. Pilsen has three Pink Line stops at Western, Damen and 18th Street. New City is bounded by Pershing Road, Western, the Norfolk Southern tracks and Garfield Boulevard and held the Union Stock Yards from 1865 until 1971. Midway International Airport sits on the western flank. Every Spanish page on this site is written for a reader here, in the register people actually use: carro, grua, corralon. Operators cover the Stevenson corridor, the Midway edge and the 26th Street and Archer Avenue commercial spines.

Southwest Side impound FAQs

Common Southwest Side questions

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

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

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