Location: Illinois
I was in an accident in a small town in Illinois where I don’t even live, and since I was taken away in an ambulance, I had no choice in where my pickup and utility trailer got towed. They went to the only tow yard in town.
To get them back, I was forced to pay about $900 in cash only — they flat-out refused debit/credit, which I’m pretty sure violates Illinois law. The “receipts” were incomplete: no totals, no clear days billed, and my trailer was secretly moved to a different higher-rate lot without notice. When I tried to pay part of it in quarters, the owner’s son caused problems and mocked me while his father just sat there smiling — and reviews show this same pattern has happened to plenty of others.
Later, I discovered the company has been legally dissolved for years, yet they’re still operating as the only towing company in town and remain on the police rotation list. On top of that, they’re running at least five other businesses out of the same lot, and reviews show the same kind of predatory behavior there too. This isn’t an accident or oversight — it looks like a setup where outsiders get punished and milked for cash. Honestly, it wouldn’t take much — a lawyer could subpoena the police tow reports from the past few years and instantly find dozens of similar victims.
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Possible Violations (so far):
• Refusing credit/debit cards
(625 ILCS 5/18d-165).
• Incomplete invoices (625 ILCS 5/18d-125).
• Failure to disclose towing/storage rates
(625ILCS 5/18d-95).
• Operating while dissolved
(805 ILCS 180/35-50).
• Consumer Fraud Act violations
(815 ILCS 505).
• Harassing me for using legal tender
(federal 31 U.S.C. §5103).
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I’m actively looking for a lawyer and I want to hit this towing setup (and the cops who keep using them) with every angle possible. My plan is to hand everything I find over to whichever lawyer I hire. Could this be a class action since they’re the only tow yard in town and likely scammed dozens of other outsiders the same way? Any Illinois lawyer recommendations would be huge.
Also looking for an accident lawyer who can go after the guys insurance company. I had a fractured bone, MRI, blood work and EKG.
And just so it’s clear — I’m not aiming to get rich off this. I’m an outsider and honestly feel like people, like the tow company, will take advantage of an outsider.