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The Connecticut’s legislative body is working on the overhaul of state -owned tusks to protect consumers and extend the time before you can sell a towed vehicle.
Drivers, landlords and leaders of the industry testified on the state capital on Monday during a public hearing before the State Transport Committee. This is among the early action that House bill 7162 have to go through the legislative process.
The bill comes in response to the investigation of Connecticut and PROPUBLICA As state -owned tugs came in favor of towing by vehicle owners. The report of the news organizations revealed that Connecticut has one of the shortest windows in the country between towing and potential sales in 15 days for vehicles worth less than $ 1500. In these laws, low -income people are disproportionately affecting these laws.
“One tugboat can have a deep snow ball effect, causing tenants to choose between tugging and rent payment,” said Laura Sweet, D-Hamden, pointing to the committee.
The bill will be overhauled by the Connecticut’s tow law and solve almost all issues raised in CT mirrors and propublica reporting.
The bill will extend the amount of time between the tow and the sale of the vehicle, requires the towing of companies to post some information about consumer rights and to restrain aggressive real estate management companies and towers that remove private property vehicles. The proposed legislation still will allow the towers to look for permits for the sale of the car in 15 days, but they would not actually be allowed to sell a vehicle worth less than $ 1500 up to 30 days.
Connecticut Connecticut authorized Tony Guerrera on Monday stated that sales usually take more than 15 days, and the bill will clarify the process.
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Some car owners told CT Mirror and Propublica that the requirements to pay cash and limited hours complicated them to return their vehicles. Sometimes, according to them, the towers refused to produce their cars, despite the fact that they show property documents, since the vehicle has not yet been registered in their name, ambiguity in state legislation.
The bill includes a number of consumer protection, including mandates that tow companies accept debit and credit card payments, make themselves “reasonably available” on weekends to allow people to return their cars, issue a 24-hour warning before tugged and demanded that companies accept the title.
According to the bill, tow companies also did not allow the removal of a vehicle from a private section or a garage for having an outdated parking permit if it is not over 15 days.
Melissan Anderson’s car was rebuilt from her Hamden Complexing Parking apartment in 2021, as its temporary parking permit ended two days before the destination of the car on DMV.
“It’s weird. This is great news, “Anderson said when reported on the proposed legislation.” I wouldn’t have lost the car, and now, perhaps others. “
On Monday, Gerrer presented testimony and spoke in favor of the bill, saying that he contained “new significant consumer protection measures”.
Guirery’s written testimony also outlined the administrative steps that the agency started to resolve the issues outlined in the news reporting. He said it renews the forms and recommendations around the car sales process and appoints more employees to “check the site” of towing companies.
Credit:
Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror
Others who testified in favor of the legislation also emphasized aspects of protection of consumers of the bill. People whose vehicles were rebuilt told the legislators about how their lives suffered. Insurance companies said they also fight Connecticut.
“This bill has long been over,” said Rafi Podolski, lawyer, in written testimony. “It makes great efforts to discover and correct offensive practices in towing, which have had a serious and detrimental impact on road owners.”
Jack Haus, whose father and stepmother live in Homden’s residential complex, which was aimed at what the residents said it was a predatory towing, testified on Monday that the father had a truck sold in the system that the bill was seeking to change.
“Out of constant fear and handling from these towing, my siblings were personally afraid and carefully visiting/stay with our family with a constant threat to be falsely towed,” the Budo said in their testimony.
Jennifer Perez Karabal, a resident of Hartford, told the legislators that her car had been rebuilt from her residential complex, which had a parking lot with other enterprises. Her car was buried under the ice and snow, and the fees quickly stacked until she said it didn’t make sense to return it.
“Soon it became easier to just release it because we were losing money every day, and we didn’t have the opportunity to get to the place to actually pay,” Perez Karabal said.
“Why do we have all right with people without being a money generator for others?” she asked.
The bill faces a tough opposition from towing. About a dozen truck towing lined up in a parking lot on Monday.
Timothy Wiebert, President of the Connecticut towing and restoration, said the towers were not sufficiently involved in the bill and asked the legislators to create a working group to study the problem. Wiebert, among other towers, also said that the bill did not affect the speed of towing, which, according to them, are too low.
“I somehow smile about the bill on the rights, about towing people because we are lured by abandoned cars,” Vibert said of the demand for the towers to place information about consumer rights. And, he said, often the problem is not that people don’t want to pay, this is what “they just don’t want cars.”
Credit:
Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror
Landmen and property executives also oppose the bill, saying that provisions such as a 24-hour warning will be difficult to support and impose unnecessary restrictions. They want to make sure their residents can park without any problems, they said.
“The requirement for a 24-hour written message before tugging an unauthorized or incorrectly parked car will be uncomfortable to respond to the tenants, to break the necessary operations such as the removal of snow and to create the risks of safety,” said Lauren Toglotella, a member of the Connecticut’s apartment association.
Legislative leaders in the transport committee said they were expecting billionaire support in the bill.
“Let me understand that these predatory towing practices are a direct attack on poor people and people who are shooting, and this bill seeks to solve this in a holistic way,” said Solo.
Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, also issued testimony in support of the bill.
The Republican House called on the CT Mirror and Propublica report on Friday, which described in detail As an employee DMV was able to sell towed cars and earn thousands. The lack of supervision of the state agency allowed him to trade services for deep discounts on towed cars, an internal report was found, but the agency did not take any action against the employee, and he was still working in DMV. In an interview, the employee said nothing wrong.
“Calling the conclusions in this latest news report on” disturbing “vehicles would be a large-scale lowering,” Vincent Kandelor, R-North Branford, as well as a member of the Committee on Orset of the Government, who ranked Rating Davin Carnbro Saybro. “The state government is intended to serve residents rather than operating them. The fact that someone can brazenly use their position funded by taxpayers, for personal benefit, is nothing outrageous.”
On Sunday, the Senate also issued a statement calling for two -party reform of state legislation.
“What has exposed this investigation is that consumers are not properly and that the current system is unfair. Fraud and abuse are allowed to play in the current system. Vulnerable residents will use in accordance with the current system,” the statement of the supervision of the Senator Rob Sampsan Senator Paul Sikarev’s Senator, R-North Haven and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield.
The Transport Committee must vote for the bill by March 24 to move it to the house.
