This article was prepared for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Connecticut Mirror. Subscribe to Dispatches to receive such stories as soon as they are published.
The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles said Monday that the agency will conduct a “comprehensive review” of towing practices in response to an investigation by The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica. The report found that some low-income residents are losing their cars because they can’t afford restoration fees and there was a short window for payment before the tow truck companies were allowed to sell their vehicles.
The review takes place Wednesday, when the 2025 legislative session opens. A state House leader said this session he will support efforts to extend the length of time tow truck companies must wait before requesting a DMV permit to sell used vehicles.
“It’s going to be a priority,” said House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford. “I mean, we’re all pretty shocked by it.”
State law allows towing companies to request permission from the DMV to sell a vehicle valued at $1,500 or less as little as 15 days after it’s towed — one of the shortest such periods in the country, the CT Mirror and ProPublica found.
The investigation, which was released Sunday, details how Connecticut’s laws came to be benefit of towing companies at the expense of the owners. In many cases, people’s cars were towed from their apartment complexes not for breaking the law, but because the parking stickers issued by the complex had expired or were not properly secured in place.
As towing and storage fees rise, some towing companies are putting up additional barriers, such as accepting cash only. Others will not release vehicles until they are registered in a person’s name, even if the driver just bought the vehicle and was not required to register it under DMV rules.
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The investigation found that the 15-day window was sometimes less than the time it took to file a DMV registration and less than the time it took to hold a hearing on a complaint challenging a tow.
In presenting the findings, DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrero said the 15-day window “strikes the right balance for consumers and towers.”
But Guerrero said in a statement Monday that his agency will propose changes to the Legislature to ensure the policy is updated and clear.
“We will conduct a comprehensive review of the issues raised in the article and engage in substantive discussions with legislative advocates,” Guerrero said. “Our activity will consist in active participation in the legislative development of proposals to modernize the regulation of the activities of enterprises.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont said he was “open to considering the proposed changes to the law.”
Legislative leaders said they are concerned about the towing law’s impact, particularly on low-income residents.
credit:
Yehyun Kim / The Connecticut Mirror
“It’s an unfriendly system for people who probably have the least amount of time and resources to navigate a complex system,” Ritter said. “So it’s really a double whammy. It’s an unfair policy, and then the only way to reverse it would require an extraordinary amount of effort, time and resources that many of these people don’t have.”
State Rep. Roland Lemar, R-New Haven, the incoming co-chairman of the Common Law Committee, said he has already spoken with the DMV, Democratic leadership and the governor’s office about legislation he is drafting that would extend the 15-day window for sales, expand forms fees to be accepted by towing companies and prohibit companies from patrolling private parking lots looking for tow vehicles. Instead, they will have to wait for a complaint.
“Tow trucks are just driving around looking for a problem,” he said.
Bill that Lemar proposed in 2023 require tow truck companies to accept credit cards, in addition to other measures, the Legislature’s Transportation Committee passed. But faced with the resistance of towing companies and property owners, it was not announced in the House of Representatives.
Timothy Vibert, president of Connecticut Towing and Towing Professionals, said tow companies are willing to discuss changes in the law, but lawmakers are reluctant to address the root cause of towing — many people driving unregistered and uninsured vehicles.
“The reason they’re being towed is because they did something wrong,” Vibert said. “Yeah, there are some rogue towers and they’re just like that, okay? But you can’t change every piece of legislation to push and make the towers divisive.”
John Souza, president of the Connecticut Property Owners Coalition, said 15 days seems like a short window, especially for some of his tenants who get paid monthly through Social Security, but allowing the towers to patrol parking lots is good for larger apartment buildings. . He said he doesn’t live in the rental property he owns, so it would be difficult for him to call tow companies at all hours of the day.
“As a landlord, I understand,” Souza said. “You have to have rules and unfortunately people take advantage of them. If the rules are too lax, people take advantage of them. There’s nothing worse than coming home after a long hard day and someone is in your parking spot.”
House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, R-East Hartford, said his office quickly looked into the issue after the story was published and found that minibikes have a longer return period than some cars before being sold.
“Fifteen days seems like a very short amount of time for someone to react and do what they need to do to try to protect their car before there’s an opportunity to sell it,” Rojas said. “For these reasons, and possibly others, it’s definitely worthy of attention.”
He said the issue “struck a nerve” with him and others because of how important it is to have reliable access to transportation.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-Branford, said he is open to considering changes to the state’s towing law.
“I am concerned about the potentially predatory nature of towing in Connecticut,” Candelora said. “A few years ago, I thought we solved this problem by requiring signage and a towing fee before allowing vehicles to be towed, but clearly there is a problem that still needs to be solved.”
State Senate leadership said they are interested in looking into the matter. Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, R-New Haven, said there is a “fairness issue” here that needs to be explored.
