Feature

City-County Council passes new towing ordinance 7.18.11

Fox 59

Round one in the fight against predatory towing is over. Monday night, the City-County Council voted 25-2 to pass a towing ordinance to stop predatory practices.

Fox 59 uncovered predatory towing during an undercover investigation back in May.

The ordinance went through the council with only small changes being made.

Cap fees at $150 for the tow and $30 for storage after the first 24 hours.

Requires tow truck to take vehicles directly to their storage lots. No dropping cars at in-between lots.

An agent of the property owner must sign off on the tow.

Tows cannot be farther 15 miles outside of the city line.

Companies must be open 24/7 for people to claim their cars and must accept all credit cards.

  • Cap fees at $150 for the tow and $30 for storage after the first 24 hours.

  • Requires tow truck to take vehicles directly to their storage lots. No dropping cars at in-between lots.

  • An agent of the property owner must sign off on the tow.

  • Tows cannot be farther 15 miles outside of the city line.

  • Companies must be open 24/7 for people to claim their cars and must accept all credit cards.

Barry Baker with Stealth Recovery helped write the ordinance. He says it’s a start, but it’s not fail-proof.

"There are loopholes. I know there are loopholes because I helped write it."

Ryan Vaughn the President of the City-County Council says he is already getting positive feedback.
"Towing has already slowed down. A lot of these tow companies don’t even want to deal with these lots anymore because of the public outcry."

Baker says he isn’t pleased with some of the small changes. He says he thinks it is unfair that tow companies can’t charge storage fees for 24 hours when the city charges a storage fee right away. He plans to see what happens next and possibly seek legal action if needed.
This ordinance now goes to the mayor to sign into law.

"I commend the bipartisan action taken by the City-County Council in approving our ordinance protecting motorists from predatory towing practices in Indianapolis," Mayor Ballard said. "Drivers in our city now have basic consumer protections, including being able to recover their vehicle safely in a timely manner, and the comfort of knowing they won’t be charged excessive fees."

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-citycounty-council-passing-new-towing-ordinance-20110718,0,6047706.story