Connecticut DMV Never Set Up System to Enforce a Century-Old Towing Law — ProPublica

This year, the Head of the Condecticut’s Automobile vehicles made a strange appointment, informing the legislators that the towing agency has never complied with a centuries -old law designed to protect drivers whose cars were towed.

According to this law, if the owners of the vehicles do not return their towed vehicles or cannot afford a fee, towing companies can sell them, but they are obliged to hold the proceeds for a year so that the car owner can demand money. The towing companies have the right to subtract their fees. But, even if the owner still does not act, companies should not transfer profits and have to transfer any other money to the state.

DMV commissioner Tony Gerrer told the legislators that the agency had never created the process of receiving deposits and did not monitor whether the money came.

In fact, the DMV commissioner said he didn’t know about this part of the Charter until Lirror Connecticut and PROPBLICA did not pay it into account last fall Investigation of how Connecticut’s laws prefer to tow companies at the expense of drivers. After the publication of the history, the State Cabinet was audited by the deposits and determined that no towing and DMV company had never transferred money from sales in the history of the law.

In a statement, Guhrer stated: “This law has been in force since the 1930s, but unfortunately there has never been a system for effective control over its implementation.”

This failure has harmed both the owners of the vehicles and the state itself: the owners do not have the opportunity to return the money, which, by law, should be them, and the state lacks both potential payments and any interest or investment income that will be charged from deposits.

An unproven law is another example of how DMV was unable to observe the towing that sells thousands of cars that follow annually. As a last resort reported by news organizations last month, a DMV employee was recognized as part of the scheme Underestiming cars and sell them for thousands of profitsAccording to an internal DMV investigation. The employee denied that he had done something bad and still working at DMV.

In another criminal court indicator, the owner of the Norwalk Towning Company was caught by Mercedes-Benz, which he had rebuilt by scoring almost 6,000 miles for 22 months. The tower was charged with theft and participated in the sabotage program, after which its records were expelled. CT Mirror and Propublica talked to dozens of people who had towed and never saw them again. Many said that they were not reported that their cars will be sold.

Now legislators are trying to create a system to make sure that car owners – or in the end – will receive that money. A A wide bill by Overhauling the entire towing charter Requires towing companies to submit documentation to the DMV cost of sale, any towing and storage fees that they have carried out, and the vehicle information and its owner within 15 days after the sale.

The bill will also reform the “eshonization” process or transfer money to the state. After viewing the sale document, DMV will require a tower to send a certified letter reported by the owner or sales owner. Instead of a common fund, the remnants of the money will be sent to the unclaimed property fund and will appear in a publicly placed list.

Guerrera said DMV recently added more employees who are accused of controlling the sales system and added a section to their site this year to make sure that towing companies are aware of the demand to transfer money to the state.

During the interview last year, Gerrer stated that the implementation of the process was not a DMV responsibility and that it was to the state treasure trove. But the treasurer pushed this in a statement, saying he got into the DMV rules. After the initial CT mirror was published and Propublica, Guerrera occupied great property.

“I am glad that this was brought to me, and I am more than prepared to address this issue, ensuring that it has now been properly treated and in accordance with the appointed purposes,” he said in a statement.

The Transport Committee approved the bill on March 19, sending it to the house. Some legislators opposed this, claiming that the bill was intended to focus on “a few bad apples”, but adds unnecessary rules for all towing.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he expects a lot of discussions because the bill is breaking through the legislative body, but he said the Essez process should be resolved.

“There must be some accountability and transparency in this,” Riter said. “This is the property of people.”

Timothy Wiebert, President of the Connecticut towing and restoration, said the president of the last association asked DMV officials about how to return the funds to the state but did not receive the answers.

He said that tow companies rarely return the fee for towing and storage when they sell machines and ask why any tower would give the state.

“Perhaps there was a little on the windmill with a particular car, but there were many losers, so why is there a chance to take it in the state?” – asked Wibert, who owns Farmington Motor Sports.

He added that many towers would rather return the cars.

“What the towers do is keep these machines, and then just get rid of them for $ 500 or $ 600,” Vibert added. “So, we keep cars, I am going to guess for 45 days, and maybe sometimes 50, depending on the documents, and then we just order them because they are worthless.”

The minority leader Vincent Kandelor, R-North Branford, said he thinks there are usually no money after the fees. “I think, frankly, what is usually happening is the towing that awaits when the tugging and storage fee exceeds the cost, so it never eventually goes into the state or returns to the person,” he said.

Christian Hall survived the fees, not rumored when she was a bartender in the center of New Haven. The work created a gentle balance. She had to work out her change and offer enough services to get good tips. But she also had to support the parking counter. It was several times when she couldn’t get to the counter, and the parking tickets were formed.

In 2015, her car was loaded and then towed if she couldn’t afford to pay $ 500 to bring the device. As long as she had saved this money, she said, the towed company quoted her $ 2,000 to return the car from his lot.

The hall could not afford it and never saw cars. She estimated that Chevrolet Aveo 2008 cost about $ 5,000, supported by the Kelley Blue Book report, thousands more than what the towing company told her she needed to pay to return it.

“Why didn’t I have the right to the rest of the money when I own this car?” she asked.

After the towing, the Hall fought to get to work and from work. She had to take home Uber because the city bus stopped working before the changes were over. She quickly went on the money and had to turn to the room neighbors to help her pay the bills before she eventually moved with her grandparents in Florida.

“I felt a failure because I couldn’t crack it,” Hall said. “It was really a very difficult and almost traumatic situation.”