| The City of Wilmington is completing the process for a new contract for the towing of vehicles from within the city limits. The city expects to have a new contract in place in the next few weeks. Towing policies have been under fire over issues that include the effect on lower-income residents who have sometimes lost their transportation as vehicles were sold off by the operator, sometimes with little or no notification and with storage fees they could not afford. Changes are being made to the parking system, including the court and appeals process. The city a lawsuit that in other jurisdictions have been successful. The city’s RFP’s from towing companies provides more opportunities for individuals to retrieve their towed vehicles or to retrieve personal items from their vehicles, establish tow and storage fee schedules for regular-sized and over-sized vehicles, and add additional reporting requirements for the tow company so the City has more information about vehicles that are towed, a release from the city stated. The following provisions, some of which are new as indicated, are expected to be in place under the new contract: – A requirement that the tow company must allow a vehicle owner greater access to the storage lot where their vehicle is located for retrieval of the vehicle or of personal items in the vehicle. There will be no charge to owners for such access. – (NEW)A 15-day increase in the length of time (60 days instead of 45 days) the tow company must hold a vehicle in storage before it may institute the atate-authorized legal process to take title to the vehicle when vehicle owners fail to retrieve their vehicles. – (NEW)A requirement that the tow company must provide the city’s police chief and finance director with notification at least two weeks prior to instituting any state-authorized legal process to take title to a vehicle when the vehicle owner fails to retrieve it. – A requirement that the tow company may not institute any legal process to take title to a vehicle until the police chief or finance director provides written confirmation that the vehicle is no longer required to be held by the tow company under the contract. – (NEW)A requirement that the tow company obtain prior written approval from the city to hire a subcontractor to tow vehicles beyond the towing weight capacity CTS can handle. – A requirement that the tow company must provide the city with a copy of the mailed, certified notice the tow company is required to send to all registered owners and lienholders of towed vehicles no later than 72 hours after the vehicle was towed. – (NEW)A requirement that the tow company must provide the city with a comprehensive monthly report detailing the status of vehicles retained by the towing company, including the date the towing company obtained title to a vehicle, and whether the vehicle was sold or scrapped. – The tow company will be allowed to charge a towing fee and daily storage fee for oversized vehicles (over 8,000 pounds) based on a state-prescribed rate beginning on the 8thday of storage. This weight limit excludes most passenger-sized vehicles (including SUVs). Purzycki said he hopes the changes will provide more time for vehicle owners who are delinquent in paying their tickets to find a way to pay the fines owed and retrieve their vehicle. “We don’t tow vehicles because we want to,” Purzycki said, “but because we, unfortunately, have to. That said, a new towing contract falls in line with our plan to improve parking enforcement by doing all we can to issue fewer tickets and hopefully tow fewer vehicles.” |
