Private-property tows · Elgin, IL

Car towed from private property in Elgin

Your car got towed from a lot or apartment complex in Elgin. Here is what Illinois law actually requires before that is allowed.

The short version

What Illinois law says

In Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will and Winnebago counties, a tow from private property is not the same thing as a police tow or a village impound. It is a relocation under the Illinois Commercial Relocation of Trespassing Vehicles Law, 625 ILCS 5/18a, and it may only be performed by a commercial vehicle relocator licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission. That licence comes with rules the relocator has to follow, and several of them are worth real money to you if they were broken. The law does not apply to vehicles on public streets, to disabled vehicles, to repossessions, or to police-directed towing.

Step by step

How it works in Elgin

  1. 1
    Confirm it was a relocation, not a city or village tow

    If the vehicle was on a public street, this is not it. Private-property relocations only cover vehicles taken from private property by a licensed relocator at the property owner's direction.

  2. 2
    Look at the sign

    Under 18a-302 the sign must be posted conspicuously in the affected area, be at least 24 inches high by 36 inches wide, sit at least 4 feet from the ground but less than 8, be illuminated or painted with reflective paint or both, and carry the relocator's name, address and telephone number plus the amount of the towing charges. No compliant sign, and the removal was unlawful.

  3. 3
    Check the distance

    A relocator may not take the vehicle more than 15 air miles from its location when towed from an unincorporated area of a county, or more than 10 air miles from anywhere else.

  4. 4
    Ask whether police were notified

    The relocator has to notify law enforcement in the jurisdiction where the vehicle was removed within one hour of the removal. That call is also how you find your car.

  5. 5
    Use the one-hour phone rule

    If after a reasonable effort you cannot make telephone contact with the relocator for a period of one hour from your first attempt, during a time the relocator is required to answer, all fees for towing, storage or otherwise are to be waived. Keep a log of your attempts with times.

  6. 6
    Complain to the Commission

    You are entitled to a complete Relocation Towing Invoice as a receipt, and the complaint form is on the back of it. Send the completed form to the Illinois Commerce Commission, 9511 W. Harrison Street, Des Plaines, Illinois 60016, or call (847) 294-4326.

Elgin context

What this looks like around Elgin

Shared lots in Cicero, Berwyn and Melrose Park generate constant tenant-parking disputes, and the Route 59 and Ogden Avenue retail corridors do the same at the western end. If you could not reach the relocator by phone for a full hour after your first attempt, the statute says all towing and storage fees are waived.

Elgin runs its own impound, in Kane and Cook counties, both inside Illinois Commerce Commission relocation jurisdiction. Park-and-ride lots are the usual source of a private-lot dispute here. Se habla espanol. A suburban impound is not the City of Chicago pound and does not use Chicago's published rates. Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/11-208.7) requires a municipal administrative fee to be reasonable and related to the municipality's actual administrative and processing costs, and it sets no dollar cap, which is why these figures vary so widely from village to village. What it does guarantee is procedure: notice within 10 days, an initial hearing convened no later than 45 days after that notice is mailed, and a refund of administrative fees if the hearing officer finds the vehicle was stolen or hijacked at the time it was impounded. Call the department that ordered the tow and ask for its administrative fee and daily storage rate.

Elgin holds 114,797 residents, the sixth-most populous city in Illinois, with a median household income of $72,999. It was 45.7 percent Hispanic in the 2020 census, and the American Community Survey puts the figure at 47.44 percent. The city sits thirty-five miles northwest of Chicago on the Fox River, in Kane and Cook counties. Interstate 90, the Jane Addams Tollway, bisects the northwest side; when it was built as the Northwest Tollway in the 1960s it cut through and reduced an existing site. Randall Road is the main commercial artery, with Illinois Routes 25 and 31 running the river corridor. Elgin has three Metra stations on the Milwaukee District West Line, National Street, Elgin and Big Timber Road, and Big Timber is the western terminus with no weekend or major-holiday service. The Elgin Transportation Center and the Randall Road park-and-ride collect commuter vehicles. A riverboat casino operates downtown, one of the few in northern Illinois. For towing, Elgin runs two clear patterns: winter recovery on I-90, where open ground west of the metro produces real drifting and blowing snow, and park-and-ride lot volume, where a car left for a workday or a week becomes a jump start or a relocation. Operators cover I-90, Randall Road, the three Metra stations and the downtown river district, and we answer in Spanish.

Elgin impound FAQs

Common Elgin questions

Is it legal to tow my car from a parking lot in Elgin?

Yes, when it is done by a relocator licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission and the property meets the sign requirements in 625 ILCS 5/18a-302. Removing a vehicle from a property that lacks those signs is unlawful under 18a-300(10).

Does a lot have to post a sign before towing in Elgin?

Yes, and the statute is specific. At least 24 inches high by 36 inches wide, at least 4 feet off the ground but less than 8, illuminated or painted with reflective paint or both, posted conspicuously in the affected area, and carrying the relocator's name, address and telephone number along with the towing charge. Residential property clearly reserved for residents and their vehicles is the one exception.

What if I show up before the tow truck leaves in Elgin?

Under 18a-300(9) a relocator may not remove your vehicle if you are present before the removal is complete and you are willing and able to move it immediately. For a vehicle that needs a commercial driver's licence there is a narrow exception allowing a service fee of not more than half the posted rate per tow vehicle on the scene, up to two tow vehicles.

Does Quick Tow Chicago do private-property tows in Elgin?

We are not an Illinois Commerce Commission licensed relocator and we do not pretend to be. What we do is connect property managers with relocators who hold that licence and follow the law, and help drivers work out what actually happened to their vehicle. Call (773) 830-6930.

Nearby

Private-property tows in the rest of the West Suburbs area

Serving Elgin

Need your car towed once it's released in Elgin?

We can't waive the yard's fees. We can line up an operator the moment it clears.