City Council Overhauls Vehicle Impoundment Rules, Settles Class Action Lawsuit Over Failure To Return Seized Cars To Innocent Owners
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Aldermen have approved significant changes to the city's vehicle impoundment program, reducing the fines and fees motorists must pay when their vehicles are seized by police, and scaling back the number of reasons police can impound a vehicle in the first place.
The ordinance rolls back impoundment fines and fees that were doubled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011, in an effort to generate $14 million in new revenue. However, the Lightfoot administration said that effort failed, as revenue from vehicle impoundments actually decreased over the past decade, because many owners couldn't afford to pay to get their cars back.
The measure also would cap the storage fees charged to motorists whose cars have been seized at $1,000. Previously, those fees could add up to tens of thousands of dollars, often resulting in some motorists essentially abandoning their cars once they were seized, because they couldn't afford the cost to get them back.
"No city should be able to hoard and profit form the personal property of its residents just because they can't afford to pay, and no city should be taking away its residents' ability to get back and forth to work or school," Lightfoot said after Wednesday's vote.
The city also will end the practice of charging storage fees to motorists who are unable to redeem their vehicles after they've been seized by the Chicago Police Department, and end the practice of automatically impounding the vehicles of people caught driving on a suspended license if the suspension was solely the result of unpaid parking tickets.
Motorists would be granted an "innocent owner" defense if their vehicle was impounded while it was being used without their knowledge, or if they can prove it shouldn't have been seized in the first place.
The city also would no longer impound vehicles for many non-driving and non-safety-related offenses; including illegal possession of fireworks, possession of spray paint, or for playing loud music.
At the same time, the City Council also approved a $4.95 million payout to settle a federal class action lawsuit that claims police have routinely refused to release impounded vehicles even when they should have, and even pressured lenders to repossess the cars, despite their owners being entitled to get them back.
The lawsuit was filed by three vehicle owners whose cars were seized when passengers, or someone else driving the owner's vehicle, were arrested on drug charges.
According to the lawsuit, in each case, the drug charges were either dropped altogether, or reduced to misdemeanors, meaning the owners should have been entitled to get their cars back from the city pound, and a refund of any fees they'd paid. Instead, in each case, the city repeatedly refused to release their vehicles, and even contacted lenders to pressure them to repossess the cars, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims the three specific cases cited were not isolated incidents, but examples of a city policy to continue impounding vehicles that have been seized in drug arrests, even after charges are dropped, or reduced to misdemeanors.
A federal judge approved class action status for the lawsuit, including approximately 356 vehicles impounded under similar circumstances. Under terms of the settlement, plaintiffs will split a pot of $3.27 million, while $1.66 million will go to attorneys' fees. The three original plaintiffs in the case will each receive a $5,000 "incentive payment," and another $15,158 will go to a "claims administration fee."
Each plaintiff will be entitled to the Kelley Blue Book value of their vehicle at the time it was impounded, with an average of $9,891.66 per vehicle, according to the city's Law Department.
In other City Council business on Wednesday, aldermen approved:
- A six-month extension of a temporary moratorium on all building demolitions in an area near the popular 606 trail. The existing moratorium was set to expire Aug. 1, but Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) said aldermen and the city's Law Department need more time to craft a more permanent plan for addressing gentrification along the 606.
- A measure to require landlords to give long-term tenants up to four months' notice before terminating or not renewing their lease, or raising their rent. Supporters have said it will provide more stability to tenants by giving them more time to find a new place to live if their lease isn't renewed, or if they can't afford the rent hike. Opponents have said the ordinance will place too much of a burden on small building owners, and could exacerbate a looming foreclosure crisis without more protections for small landlords.
- Changes to the city's contracts with the unions representing police captains, lieutenants, and sergeants, including a provision to allow for civilians to file anonymous complaints against police supervisors. The mayor has said she will fight for similar changes in the contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents rank-and-file officers.
- An ordinance to temporarily lift restrictions on night games on Fridays and Saturdays at Wrigley Field, to allow the Chicago Cubs to host six Friday night games and five Saturday night games during the shortened 60-game season this year. For years, the Cubs have been limited to only three Saturday night games a year, and no Friday night games. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) and the Cubs have said the agreement for more night games will apply only to the 2020 season.
- An ordinance to overhaul the approval process for implosion permits for building demolitions, including a mandate for a public meeting and notification of nearby residents beforehand. The changes were spurred by the botched implosion of a smokestack in Little Village in April, which sent a cloud of dust and debris into the surrounding neighborhood.