How to dispute a tow in Elmhurst
Think a tow near Elmhurst was wrong? Illinois gives you real leverage, but which route you take depends entirely on who towed the car.
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.
How it works in Elmhurst
- 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 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 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 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 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 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.
What this looks like around Elmhurst
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.
Elmhurst runs its own impound, in DuPage County. DuPage is one of the five counties where the Illinois Commerce Commission regulates private-property relocation, so the sign, distance and rate rules apply here exactly as they do in Cook. 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.
Elmhurst holds 45,786 residents with a median household income of $123,869 and a median family income of $148,663, which makes it one of the wealthier places we cover. It is in DuPage County. Interstates 290 and 294 both border the city, and North Avenue, York Street and Roosevelt Road carry the surface traffic. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, founded in 1926, was the first hospital in DuPage County. The rail picture here is unusually busy for a town this size: Metra Union Pacific West runs commuter service, Union Pacific runs freight on the same line, and Canadian National operates the former Illinois Central Freeport Subdivision to the south. O'Hare is roughly eighteen minutes away and Midway about thirty-three. Two consequences for towing. High household incomes mean newer and more expensive vehicles, which means flatbed-only requests and owners who expect the handling standards a dealer would use. And multiple active freight lines through a residential town mean grade crossings, blocked crossings and the occasional vehicle that needs to come off a crossing quickly. DuPage County is inside Illinois Commerce Commission jurisdiction, so the private-property relocation rules apply here just as they do in Cook. Operators cover both expressway frontages, the York Street corridor and the hospital campus.
Common Elmhurst questions
How long do I have to dispute a tow in Elmhurst?
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 Elmhurst?
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 Elmhurst?
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 Elmhurst?
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.
Related help for Elmhurst
Disputing a tow in the rest of the West Suburbs area
Need your car towed once it's released in Elmhurst?
We can't waive the yard's fees. We can line up an operator the moment it clears.