Disputing a tow · Aurora, IL

How to dispute a tow in Aurora

Think a tow near Aurora was wrong? Illinois gives you real leverage, but which route you take depends entirely on who towed the car.

The short version

What Illinois law says

There are two completely separate complaint routes in Illinois and using the wrong one wastes weeks. If a municipality impounded your vehicle, 625 ILCS 5/11-208.7 gives you a right to an administrative hearing, with notice required within 10 days and an initial hearing convened no later than 45 days after that notice is mailed. If a private property had it relocated, the regulator is the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the relocator's own invoice has the complaint form on the back of it. Work out which happened first. A vehicle taken off a public street by a municipality is the first route; a vehicle taken out of a lot by a licensed relocator is the second.

Step by step

How it works in Aurora

  1. 1
    Work out who towed it

    A municipal impound and a private-property relocation have different regulators, different deadlines and different paperwork. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a complaint goes nowhere.

  2. 2
    For a municipal impound, watch the notice

    State law requires notice within 10 days of the impoundment and an initial hearing scheduled and convened no later than 45 days after the date that notice was mailed. If no notice arrived, say so.

  3. 3
    For a relocation, check the sign first

    Removing a vehicle from a property that lacks the signs required under 18a-302 is unlawful. Photograph the lot, including the absence of a compliant sign, before anything changes.

  4. 4
    Check the distance and the police call

    A relocator cannot take a vehicle more than 10 air miles from where it was parked, or 15 from an unincorporated area, and must notify local police within one hour of the removal.

  5. 5
    Check the rate

    Charging above the rates set by the Commission is unlawful under 18a-300(12), and 18a-300(18) requires any amount charged in excess of the reasonable rate the Commission establishes to be refunded.

  6. 6
    File it with the right body

    Relocation complaints go to the Illinois Commerce Commission, 9511 W. Harrison Street, Des Plaines, Illinois 60016, phone (847) 294-4326, using the form on the back of the Relocation Towing Invoice. Municipal impound disputes go through that municipality's administrative hearing process.

Aurora context

What this looks like around Aurora

Cook, DuPage and Kane counties are all inside Illinois Commerce Commission relocation jurisdiction, so a tow from a shared lot in Cicero, Berwyn, Melrose Park, Naperville, Aurora or Elgin is measured against the state sign, distance, notification and rate rules.

Aurora runs its own impound and spans four counties. Three of them, Kane, DuPage and Will, are inside Illinois Commerce Commission relocation jurisdiction, so the private-property rules hold across essentially the whole city. 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.

Aurora holds 180,542 residents, the second-largest city in Illinois, with a median household income of $74,659 and a Hispanic share of 41.53 percent. It spans four counties, Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall, and sits along the Fox River. Interstate 88 and Illinois Route 59 are the main roads, with Eola Road serving the east side, where development took off in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The BNSF Railway runs Eola Yard here, the city is the final stop on Metra's BNSF Line and has two Metra stops, and Aurora Municipal Airport works as a reliever for O'Hare and Midway while handling a real volume of international cargo. The Hollywood Casino downtown, built in 1993, started the first serious downtown redevelopment in twenty years. Three things make Aurora matter to a towing site. Spanish is not a courtesy here, it is how a large share of the city talks to a dispatcher, and the register is the same Mexican-American Spanish used on Chicago's Southwest Side. A working rail yard and a cargo airport put real intermodal and heavy-duty work on the map. And Kane, DuPage and Will are all inside the Illinois Commerce Commission's relocation jurisdiction, so the state private-property rules apply across the whole city. Operators cover I-88, Route 59, Eola Yard and the downtown district.

Aurora impound FAQs

Common Aurora questions

How long do I have to dispute a tow in Aurora?

For a municipal impound, state law requires notice within 10 days and an initial hearing convened no later than 45 days after that notice is mailed, so the timetable is driven by the notice date. For a private-property relocation, file the complaint form from the back of your invoice with the Illinois Commerce Commission as soon as you have it.

What if the lot had no sign in Aurora?

Under 18a-300(10) it is unlawful to remove a vehicle from property on which signs are required and on which appropriate signs under 18a-302 are not posted. Photograph the lot before anything is changed, and include the photographs with your complaint.

What if I could not reach the towing company in Aurora?

If after a reasonable effort you could not make telephone contact with the relocator for a period of one hour from your first attempt, during a period when they are required to answer, the statute says all fees for towing, storage or otherwise are to be waived. Keep a log of the times you called.

Can Quick Tow Chicago settle my tow dispute in Aurora?

No. We are not the towing company, the village or the Commission, and we have no standing in your dispute. We can tell you which route applies and what the law requires, and move the car once it is released. Call (773) 830-6930.

Nearby

Disputing a tow in the rest of the West Suburbs area

Serving Aurora

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

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