Chicago sells impounded $17k car for $204 (Pontiac: purchase, cost, lawsuit)

[MSchemist80]

Chicago/Illinois government has once again been embarrassed nationally. This time the city impounded a $17k car and then sold it for $204 making national headlines and resulting in a federal lawsuit the city is certain to lose and cost taxpayers money. In the recent Supreme Court decission in Timbs vs Indiana the court ruled government cannot impose excessive fines specifically by seizing vehicles. However, at a more base moral level who could honestly be proud of what the government here is doing.

https://wgntv.com/news/federal-lawsu...-sell-program/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZECdEhXURI

[chirack]

Let me get this straight. How is the City to know the fair market value of a car? A car that could be worth 17K is worth a lot less if it can not run. Which is why when the car is sold off the Car will be sold for a big discount.

Also why is the city going to lose.? The case you site is about the government going after assets not related to the issue(Drug selling and the town attempting to get a vehicle that they say he used to transport the drugs) and that the amount the vehicle was sold for . In this case the person did not pay his tickets, did not pay to get his car out of impound and lost it. I rather doubt the court will side with him because it would make ticket enforcement impossible and that opens a rather big can of worms...i.e. If they win I could drive to your burb, park in front of your driveway repeatedly and the town would not be able to do anything about it.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by chirack

Let me get this straight. How is the City to know the fair market value of a car? A car that could be worth 17K is worth a lot less if it can not run. Which is why when the car is sold off the Car will be sold for a big discount.

Also why is the city going to lose.? The case you site is about the government going after assets not related to the issue(Drug selling and the town attempting to get a vehicle that they say he used to transport the drugs) and that the amount the vehicle was sold for . In this case the person did not pay his tickets, did not pay to get his car out of impound and lost it. I rather doubt the court will side with him because it would make ticket enforcement impossible and that opens a rather big can of worms...i.e. If they win I could drive to your burb, park in front of your driveway repeatedly and the town would not be able to do anything about it.

I'm pretty sure the workers involved knew the car was worth a lot and some employees cut an inside deal to purchase the car for literally 1-2 pennies on the dollar. I got $300 for scrap value for a rusted out 97 Pontiac that wasn't running.

Also the case cited (Timbs) was for civil asset forfeiture in a drug case but the principle of the ruling is that you can't charge fines in disproportionately in excess of the fine. If you can't seize a vehicle worth $20-40k for a drug offense then you certainly can't effectively seize a car worth $10-20k for 2 parking tickets.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

I'm pretty sure the workers involved knew the car was worth a lot and some employees cut an inside deal to purchase the car for literally 1-2 pennies on the dollar. I got $300 for scrap value for a rusted out 97 Pontiac that wasn't running.

Also the case cited (Timbs) was for civil asset forfeiture in a drug case but the principle of the ruling is that you can't charge fines in disproportionately in excess of the fine. If you can't seize a vehicle worth $20-40k for a drug offense then you certainly can't effectively seize a car worth $10-20k for 2 parking tickets.

Nope not likely. A car that has been taken by the city has a high probability of not working and the city isn't interested in the scrap value of the vehicle. The person who paid $204 can get that and If they paid more than the scrap value of the vehicle not knowing If it can run they are fools. If the city can not seize the car then why pay the tickets? In addition there are times when the city has no choice about towing the car(parked in a tow zone) what is the city to do keep the car forever till the owner can pay the tickets and towing?

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by chirack

Nope not likely. A car that has been taken by the city has a high probability of not working and the city isn't interested in the scrap value of the vehicle. The person who paid $204 can get that and If they paid more than the scrap value of the vehicle not knowing If it can run they are fools. If the city can not seize the car then why pay the tickets? In addition there are times when the city has no choice about towing the car(parked in a tow zone) what is the city to do keep the car forever till the owner can pay the tickets and towing?

Anything to back up that assertion? It makes sense when you think about it, but I am still curious to know if there are numbers to back that up.

Regardless, if the city is going to seize and sell your property, it should be under some obligation to ensure a fair market value for the property. That's my argument, anyway.

[chirack]

While I can’t give numbers, I can give the reason why a car in that has been impounded is likely not to work and is high risk.

1. The city tows cars that have broken down in the middle of the road when the owner is unable to get it moved in a timely fashion.

2. The city also tows cars that have violated the abandoned vehicle law( a car that has not moved in seven days, or in an obvious state of disrepair(broken windows or flat tires), or has become hazardous(leaking oil, transmission fluid or gas). While an abandoned vehicle might not be unable to move, one must wonder why the owner did go to the vehicle get the ticket off the vehicle an move it(you are given a couple of days before they tow it) or wait so long (at least 21 days) to get it out of the pound. I will admit that they will tow a vehicle with damage or is hazardous immediately rather than give the owner time to move it.

3. The city also boots and tows vehicles that have accumulated three parking violations. One must wonder why the owner was unable to either work a payment plan or pay the tickets(Could it be because they can’t afford it, in which case can they afford to repair the vehicle?).

4. They city isn’t liable if they damage your vehicle while towing and might not take great care when towing.

5. I have heard complaints of things getting stolen off vehicles in the impound lots.

6. You must wonder why the person wasn’t able or willing to get the car out the pound and what it says about the relative value of said vehicle.

The cases where it might work is If the car was impounded in as a result of crime(DUI, Drugs, ect.) or it was towed for being in a tow zone. As for fair value the space in the city lot is limited and there are cars coming in constantly. In addition, without the key to the car how can one determine if the car can start or take the car on a test drive.