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The Most Notorious Towing Company in Chicago Gets the Boot
- neurotech1 8y agoNon-paywall archive version: http://archive.is/SV4UY http://archive.is/SV4UY
- nautilus12 8y agoIts sad but i dont even need the article anymore. The discussion up to here is easier to read and deeper. Paywall=article title becomes hacker news discussion topic
- ourmandave 8y agoArticle behind a paywall. =( Hopefully they're shut down for good and people went to prison. My fear is they'll pop back up under a different name and continue the same f*ckery. That's what a scam auto auction place in South Chicago did. They had numerous BBB complaints and dozens of on-line horror stories. The state attorney finally shut them down several years ago but it looks like they're back and in the same freakin' building in Harvey IL. Only now they're called First Marshall Auto Auction. I've seen their ads on craigslist and flag them, but it's like playing whack-a-mole. https://abc7chicago.com/automotive/bbb-issues-warning-for-first-marshall-auto-auction-after-consumer-complaints-/3368275/ https://abc7chicago.com/automotive/bbb-issues-warning-for-fi...
- atomical 8y agoI had a tow truck company lie to the attendant and tell him there wasn't a parking pass on the car. The attendant knew me though and told this guy not to tow my car. I bet this happens all the time.
- RobLach 8y agoPeople have posted pics on twitter of them still towing. At what point does it cross over into unlawful possession or theft? I assume they're just keep spooling up another LLC and continuing.
- tptacek 8y agoThey were allowed to remain in operation until they were physically served with the order from the ICC, which might explain that.
- Spooky23 8y agoVehicle based grifts are tough to deal with, especially with it being so trivial and cheap to reincorporate. A friend in the business took one of the Chinatown busses off the road after they pulled up for inspection with the rear brakes on fire with bald tires and no mirrors. The unlicensed driver ran off into a cornfield and vanished. He pulled it off again a week later in the same condition, with another LLC on the side (something like “harmonious dragon 2,llc). That time it was associated with a more serious crime and seized.
- atomical 8y agohttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-lincoln-towing-license-revoked-20180912-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edi... > Then there was poor Peter Salva, a construction worker who in 2015 was doing roof work when he noticed a couple of Lincoln Towing workers hauling away his truck. When he began climbing down, the workers unhooked his ladder. He fell and broke his leg
- EdwardDiego 8y ago...this is some straight up gangster behaviour.
- jrockway 8y agoThat just sounds like good-old attempted murder. I hope the DA pursued it as such.
- jessaustin 8y agoA folk song about these bastards was written in 1972? How did this take so long? They must have had someone protecting them.
- a_e_k 8y agoYep! Steve Goodman's "Lincoln Park Pirates" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF3q7o8Yjrg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF3q7o8Yjrg http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?lyrics=9522 http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?lyrics=9522 ... We break into cars when we gotta With pick axe and hammer and saw And they said that this garage had no license But little care I for the law ... Funny that it's their license that's been revoked in this case. ... To me way, hay Tow them away We plunder the streets of your town Be it Edsel or Chevy there's no car to heavy And no one can make us shut down ... I'll believe it when they're actually gone (and not just reopened under a different name).
- tptacek 8y agoThe ICC investigation, over the course of a year, identified over 800 violations, most involving making unauthorized tows --- often from places they had formerly had contracts but no longer did, or places where they claimed they had contracts but where no contract was on file with the ICC. Which squares with the general take on Lincoln Towing, which is that they're just a bunch of people in tow trucks looking to tow as many cars as they can. Lincoln's defense: the ICC never told them they were violating the law. What I learned from reading all the ICC filings: in Chicago, you need to file different contracts to tow on a "patrol" basis (where the tow truck spots the unauthorized car) vs. a request basis, where the customer asks you to have a car towed. Lincoln Towing didn't care about the distinction; the ICC did. Also, they had drivers without licenses. Honestly, I doubt the other Chicago towing companies are much better. Their Wikipedia page is pretty funny; it's pretty clear that someone with an interest in Lincoln Towing has authored chunks of it.
- duxup 8y agoJust allowing a towing companies to "patrol" would seem to invite bad choices. After some rounds of bad towing companies / behavior Minneapolis passed some city ordinances that limited towing. There still are bad actors but a lot of the easier methods they can use are gone now.
- koolba 8y agoPrivatized law enforcement with a financial incentive to “find crimes”? What could go wrong?
- duxup 8y agoOne of my first jobs had a client who ran speed cameras for a state. On top of nothing being secure the guys there said to me that the amount of "traffic" always seemed to increase, I felt dirty just talking to them. One dude I ran into later at another company said he started looking for a new job as soon as he figured out their game. The company got in trouble supposedly due to anonymous tipsters who knew some inside info to some news stations (for the record no it wasn't me, I didn't have anything). At least some folks made good choices.
- topkai22 8y agoBut... the city should just disallow coercive towing generally, unless it’s a public safety concern. Ticketing, fine, but roving packs of tow trucks really only add value to the towing companies. Having lived both in a city where it was nigh impossible to get towed and one where I was towed out of my own spot I could notice no difference in parking availability.
- whatshisface 8y agoTicketing can also turn in to a "roving packs" situation, by means of misaligned government incentives. At the end of the day, if someone does something wrong we should probably just take the fine and burn it.
- topkai22 8y agoYeah, but at least with a fine you can contest prior to paying. If a car is seized most people don’t have the luxury of being car less for the length of the appeals process.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoAnd the fines keep piling up. And the people who do the appeals know the tow company because they deal with them all the time whereas you're just a random person off the street so the appeal by default is skewed toward their favor.
- apple4ever 8y agoExactly this. Towing should never occur unless its blocking traffic or another safety issue, at least for a week after a notice. Nobody should park their car and have it towed the same day.
- notananthem 8y agoThey're going to be back under a new business name for sure. They're tied into local politics and protected. My friend was a repo man and towed cars, and said lincoln was way worse about vehicles than even his owner's sleazy operation
- drngdds 8y agoHow did it take these guys literal decades to get shut down?
- fiveFeet 8y agoExactly what I was wondering. Looks like it has been going on for more than half a century as per the article.
- wiradikusuma 8y agoIn Indonesia, this kind of business is well known but in toll roads. Having your car broken down is the least of your problem. They will come, drag your car to their affiliated workshop, charge you high fees, and then the workshop charges you high fees as well. You can refuse, but it involves lots of persistence.
- mastazi 8y agoThis also used to be very common on the GRA, the motorway that runs around Rome (Italy). I was a victim of such a scheme once. If I remember well, the problem was finally solved due to the fact that at some point tow trucks were banned from the GRA altogether.
- jpatokal 8y agoSo what happens when your car breaks down? Do you need to push it yourself?
- LoSboccacc 8y agoThe tow is managed by your insurer. You get a fixed price or reduced price depending on your insurance. You get a toll free number and usually instructions not to trust random towers you didn’t call for.
- mastazi 8y agoMy understanding is that official ACI[1] trucks, as opposed to private ones, are still allowed, if your car breaks down on the GRA your insurer will send an ACI truck [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Club_d%27Italia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Club_d%27Italia
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoThis is how it works on the Jersey turnpike but the IIRC right to tow people from a particular stretch of road on a particular day of the week is bid on like any other state contract (my details may be a little off but point is you can't call whatever company you want).
- gok 8y agoMy sole interaction with them was a flagrant bribe solicitation. I paid. Good riddance.
- telaport 8y agoI'll just leave this here... https://i.imgur.com/Pc6gFvN.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Pc6gFvN.jpg
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoThere's no way a company like this can piss off so many people for 50+yr without some serious political connections. In a corrupt city if you piss of people with connections you get run out of business unless you also have connections.
- Larrikin 8y agoI've only lived in the city a couple years, very few of the people I've met own cars, and I still had heard of them and their notorious practices. There had to have been some corrupt connection for them to operate as long as they did.
- Latteland 8y agoyou mean unless you pay your connections.
- godzillabrennus 8y agoLived in Chicago for eight years. Owned a small business that was trying to get work with a city agency. Got denied to be an approved vendor when I applied. We were told they would reconsider in two years. A client of mine was wealthy and well connected. He was trying to convince me to let him invest in my business. I told him about being denied. He made a phone call on our behalf to city hall. We got a call from the city agency within an hour that we were now an approved vendor. Moral of the story. Chicago is corrupt AF.
- ams6110 8y agoJust another reason not to own a car in Chicago. I lived there for a few years and it's insane. City car taxes, outrageous parking expenses, high insurance rates, and predatory towing. No thanks. In fact I quit that city altogether and wouldn't care if I never see it again.
- nieve 8y agoThis kind of thing is a problem anywhere that there's not aggressive regulation and Seattle is pretty bad. At one point a partner was towed for parking in a handicap spot and she had handicap plates and a handicap placard. Similarly she was towed from in front of our house for not moving the car very frequently and towed for parking in a part-time lane at a forbidden time... before the forbidden time started. Once you're towed they got a motivation to up the fees by keeping your car as long as possible, so you're likely to run into very short retrieval hours (closed on the weekend) and fees over $200/day. It's a pretty effective racket as long as the city goes along with it and they're getting paid.
- kantpaek 8y ago> Similarly she was towed from in front of our house for not moving the car very frequently You are storing personal property on public property. Move your car according to the law, or pay to park it (in a lot or towing fee, I dun care). Entitled people are ridiculous.
- 14 8y agoI think op just meant that it was towed for an arbitrary time limit that was not defined. If they said a vehicle must be moved at least once a week there would be no complaint or confusion in the situation. I am down voting your comment because name calling did not add to the discussion for me.
- xyzzyz 8y agoIn Seattle, vehicles parked on the street must be moved at least every 72 hours.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoAnd when you work nights and the meter person who tracks what's parked where works days that's basically the same as not moving your vehicle.
- justaaron 8y agoI won't read paywalled content, but this articles title wins an award for punniness