this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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It turns out Connecticut has a more than 100-year-old law that allows tow truck companies to sell someone’s car 15 days after they haul it away, if they can convince the Department of Motor Vehicles that the vehicle is worth $1,500 or less.

I submitted a request to the DMV under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.

In addition to being heavily redacted, many forms were handwritten, and the DMV didn’t seem to have a database or a system for keeping track of them. Agency officials initially told us there were 11,700 documents. Then they told us there were more than 7,000 for 2022 alone. Now they say there are about 4,100 for that year. The DMV hasn’t been able to explain the discrepancies. Officials also said the request has taken time because they have to manually redact thousands of documents.

Under the law, towing companies must notify the local police within two hours of removing a car. So we submitted public records requests to several police departments for their call logs.

Just days after our story was published, at least two bills were introduced in the state legislature to address some of the issues raised in our reporting. The DMV said it would undertake a “comprehensive review” of towing practices, and the speaker of the House promised that fixing the towing laws will be a “priority” this legislative session.

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[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Wasn't 1500 dollars in one hundred years ago money just every single car?

[–] Cort@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Lol the model T was like 250 back then so you could buy a 6 pack for 1500. But you couldn't get a Cadillac for 1500, and rolls Royce made more cars back then that may approach 10x that amount.

I would bet the max impound fee is capped at $100/day so they're selling cars that are worth less than the impound fee at that point.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 hours ago

How come it's never a priority until a respected news source reveals the scuzziness of it all?

[–] Gullible@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 hours ago

Civil forfeiture, police-funded ~~highway strips~~ “towns,” and the criminality of towing companies will likely never be resolved.