Unpaid impound & disposal · Bolingbrook, IL

What happens if you don't pay impound in Bolingbrook

If your car has been sitting unpaid at a lot near Bolingbrook, here is what actually happens next.

The short version

What Illinois law says

An unpaid impound does not sit still. Storage accrues daily, and at the end of the clock the vehicle can be disposed of or sold at auction while you still owe the fines and fees. In the City of Chicago the timetable is published: vehicles are normally stored no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner, and 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. If the vehicle is never claimed it may be disposed of or sold at auction, and the owner remains responsible for any fines or fees related to the violation. A suburban impound runs its own timetable, so the only reliable source there is the department that ordered the tow.

Step by step

How it works in Bolingbrook

  1. 1
    Understand what the clock is for

    The 21-day figure inside the city is the point at which the city may dispose of the vehicle, not a period during which you cannot collect it. You can collect it the same day if there is no police hold and you can pay.

  2. 2
    Watch for the notice

    The clock starts from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner, so a change of address that never reached the Secretary of State is how people lose cars they did not know were impounded.

  3. 3
    Use the one extension you get

    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. Request it from the Auto Pound Office at 312.746.4954.

  4. 4
    Confirm the running balance

    Ask for the tow charge and the daily storage rate separately, and ask what today's total is. Inside the city those are $250 or $350 to tow and $50 or $100 per day to store.

  5. 5
    Know what happens at the end

    If the vehicle is not claimed it may be disposed of or sold at auction, and the owner is still responsible for any fines or fees related to the violation. Losing the car does not clear the debt.

  6. 6
    Decide whether the car is worth saving

    Compare the running balance against what the vehicle is actually worth. If the answer is no, a junk-car pickup with a cash offer is a cleaner ending than a lien sale, and Illinois junking paperwork is final, so decide once.

Bolingbrook context

What this looks like around Bolingbrook

For commercial equipment along the freight corridor the daily rate is higher and the arithmetic turns bad fast. Work out early whether the vehicle is worth the balance, because the Illinois junking certificate ends a title permanently once that road is taken.

Bolingbrook runs its own impound. Park-and-ride lots are the usual source of a private-lot dispute here, and a relocator working one still has to meet the state's sign, distance and notification rules. 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.

Bolingbrook holds 73,922 residents with a median household income of $92,184 and a median family income of $102,174, mostly in Will County with a DuPage portion. Interstate 55, the Stevenson, runs through the southern part of the village, heading northeast toward Chicago and southwest toward Plainfield and Joliet, and Interstate 355, the Veterans Memorial Tollway, runs along the far east side. Illinois Route 53, locally Bolingbrook Drive, runs north-south through the middle, and Westbury, off Route 53, was the village's first subdivision. Clow International Airport sits off Boughton Road with a runway of roughly 3,362 feet, and the Promenade Bolingbrook anchors the retail. The detail that changes how a breakdown gets handled here is that Pace routes 755, 850 and 851 run express to downtown Chicago on the shoulder of I-55, using park-and-ride facilities in the village. A disabled vehicle on that shoulder is not just exposed to traffic, it is occupying an active bus route at rush hour, and getting it clear quickly matters to more than the driver. The park-and-ride lots themselves are the other steady source of work, collecting vehicles that sit all day and sometimes all week. Operators cover I-55, I-355, Route 53 and the park-and-ride lots.

Bolingbrook impound FAQs

Common Bolingbrook questions

How long before an unpaid tow becomes a real problem in Bolingbrook?

Immediately, because storage accrues daily. Inside the city the disposal clock is no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner, with a right to one 15-day extension, but the cost problem starts on day one at $50 or $100 a day.

What notice do I get before losing my car in Bolingbrook?

The City of Chicago mails notice to the registered owner and the storage clock runs from that date. That is why the address on your registration matters: if the notice goes to an old address, the clock still runs.

How much will I owe if I wait to pay in Bolingbrook?

Inside the city, the tow is $250 for a vehicle under 8,000 pounds or $350 at 8,000 pounds or more, and storage is $50 or $100 per day on the same split. Multiply the daily rate by the days elapsed and add the tow. A suburban impound sets its own figures.

Does Quick Tow Chicago handle lien sales in Bolingbrook?

No. We are not the lot holding your vehicle and we have no part in its disposal. What we can do is help you work out who has it, what the balance is likely to be, and whether a junk-car pickup makes more sense than paying it out. Call (773) 830-6930.

Nearby

Unpaid impound & disposal in the rest of the Will County Corridor area

Serving Bolingbrook

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

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