Connecticut Towing Laws Under Review: New Reforms Aim to Protect Low-Income Drivers
Connecticut is poised to further overhaul its towing laws, with a new Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) working group tasked with identifying potential reforms beyond those recently passed by state lawmakers. The group, which convened for the first time on Monday, will deliver recommendations to legislators by February, building on a yearlong investigation that revealed systemic issues favoring towing companies at the expense of vulnerable residents.
A joint investigation by The Connecticut mirror and ProPublica uncovered significant flaws in the state’s century-old towing regulations, prompting legislative action and the formation of this new working group. While recent legislation, effective October 1st, makes it more tough to tow vehicles from private property and streamlines the retrieval process for drivers, concerns remain regarding the handling of proceeds from vehicle sales and the valuation of towed cars.
The 10-member committee, chaired by DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera, represents a diverse range of stakeholders, including three towing company owners, two consumer advocates, and other DMV officials. During its initial meeting,the group acknowledged ongoing challenges within the industry and for vehicle owners,despite the recent changes. Guerrera emphasized the financial burden towing can impose on low-income individuals. “We need to understand what’s going on when their car gets towed,” Guerrera said. “that’s important because that $1,000 vehicle is a lifeline for them, and they need to get it back. So how can we get it back in a way that doesn’t keep accumulating more fees?”
One key area of discussion centered on improving vehicle ownership tracking. Committee members explored the possibility of requiring the DMV to maintain a record of vehicle sales, addressing a common problem where towers are unable to locate the rightful owner, notably in cases of recent vehicle purchases where registration hasn’t been updated. “People are buying a car, they don’t register them, it gets towed, and everything’s going back to the last person that owned it a few years ago,” explained Sal Sena, owner of Sena Brothers and Cross Country Automotive in Hartford. The new legislation already allows vehicle owners to submit a title or bill of sale in lieu of registration documents to reclaim their vehicles.
another critical issue is the lack of a standardized process for determining a towed vehicle’s value. Towing companies can expedite the sale of vehicles valued at $1,500 or less, raising concerns about perhaps undervalued assessments. Guerrera questioned the methodology used by towing companies, asking, “If you’ve got a car that’s three grand or four grand, next thing you know, it’s valued under $1,500, how did that happen?”
Rafie Podolsky, an attorney with Connecticut Legal Services, highlighted the long-standing concerns regarding vehicle valuations. “I’m hopeful that either the department or the industry will have data that will allow us to kind of make some comparisons between the presumed value of the car and the dollar amount that comes in on a resale,” Podolsky said.
modernizing the DMV’s process for authorizing vehicle sales was also identified as a priority. Eileen Colonese of Farmington Motor Sports pointed out the inefficiencies of the current system, which relies on weeks of back-and-forth paperwork via mail. “Ther’s portals out there for all kinds of things. Why is there not a portal for this?” Colonese asked. “Everyone can submit everything electronically and have access to a more standardized and modernized system.”
The working group is scheduled to submit its report to the legislature’s Transportation Committee by February. guerrera stressed the importance of reaching a consensus among all members to ensure the recommendations are well-received. “If we go to the legislature with a piece of information that says we have met with the industry on both sides, and this is what we’ve come up with, we’re in good shape,” Guerrera said. “If we bog down now again,you know,now it’s in the hands of the legislature and we don’t know what could happen.”
