Disputing a tow · Northwest Side, IL

How to dispute a tow in Northwest Side

Think a tow near Northwest Side 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 Northwest Side

  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.

Northwest Side context

What this looks like around Northwest Side

Inside the city both routes are live. For a city tow, start with 311 and the Bureau of Traffic Services at 312.746.4954, Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm. For a vehicle relocated out of a private lot in Cook County, the regulator is the Illinois Commerce Commission and the rules in 625 ILCS 5/18a are the standard the relocator had to meet.

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

How long do I have to dispute a tow in Northwest Side?

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 Northwest Side?

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 Northwest Side?

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 Northwest Side?

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 Chicago City Sides area

Serving Northwest Side

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

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