Unpaid impound & disposal · Cicero, IL

What happens if you don't pay impound in Cicero

If your car has been sitting unpaid at a lot near Cicero, 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 Cicero

  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.

Cicero context

What this looks like around Cicero

The same holds across Oak Park, Cicero, Berwyn, Elmhurst, Naperville, Aurora and Elgin. If the vehicle is genuinely not worth the accumulated balance, say so early: a junk-car pickup arranged now beats a lien sale you find out about later.

Cicero runs its own impound. Two pieces of Illinois law are worth knowing here: a relocator has to let you take the car if you get back before the removal is complete, and if you cannot reach the relocator by phone for a full hour after your first try, all towing and storage fees are waived. 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.

Cicero holds 85,268 residents, the eleventh-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a median household income of $53,726. More than 89 percent of the town is Hispanic, which makes it the most Hispanic municipality in the state. Cermak Road, once 22nd Street, is the commercial spine, and the Czech and Bohemian storefronts that lined it were replaced through the 1980s and 1990s by Spanish-language businesses. Ogden Avenue, Roosevelt Road, Cicero Avenue and 26th Street carry the rest of the traffic, and the Cicero Metra station on the BNSF line, near Cicero Avenue and 26th Street, sits on the Aurora to Union Station run. Hawthorne Race Course still runs on the Cicero and Stickney line, with the former Sportsman's Park site just north of it. The towing picture here comes straight out of the housing: dense two-flats and bungalows, minimal off-street parking, and incomes well below the county median, which means a tow bill lands harder here than it does in Elmhurst. Two pieces of Illinois law are worth knowing in Cicero. If you get back to your car before the relocator has finished hooking it, they have to let you take it. And if you cannot reach the relocator by phone for a full hour after your first try, the law says all the towing and storage fees are waived. Operators cover Cermak, 26th Street, the Metra station and the residential grid, and we answer in Spanish.

Cicero impound FAQs

Common Cicero questions

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

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 Cicero?

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 Cicero?

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 Cicero?

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 West Suburbs area

Serving Cicero

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

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