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A bill that would establish an online portal so Connecticut drivers can better track their towed cars and require towing companies to consider the age of a towed vehicle before it’s sold breezed through the state Senate on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 413 says that towing companies can sell vehicles if they are at least 15 years old and after 30 days have passed. Previously, the sales process could begin for lower-cost vehicles after only 15 days — one of the smallest windows in the country. This meant many people who couldn’t quickly afford to pay towing fees lost their cars. The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica also found that many towing companies valued vehicles much lower than their estimated retail values and sold them quickly.

S.B. 413 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to create an online portal where owners can see where their vehicles have been towed and whether they are up for sale. Many residents told CT Mirror and ProPublica that they didn’t get notice their cars were going to be sold because of an outdated address or their vehicle was still registered to someone else.

Last year, following reporting from the news organizations on this window and the law’s effects on car owners, particularly those with low incomes, the state legislature passed the biggest overhaul of towing law in decades.

This year’s bill followed up on that work and addressed accessible parking issues, regulations around teenage drivers as well as towing legislation. The towing measures came partly from a working group that spent the past several months studying towing policy and making recommendations.

The Senate approved the bill 35-1. It still must clear the House.

Transportation Committee co-Chair Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, said that legislators wanted to find language that strikes “that necessary balance between protecting consumers from predatory behavior but also supporting the many reputable small businesses that provide these essential services to our communities.”

“There are bad actors. We have read about it in the press. It’s what prompted us to take action and really kind of take a look at our towing statutes on the whole,” Cohen said.

The bill got bipartisan support. Committee ranking member Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, urged members to support the measure. He said it builds on last year’s work, which he called “remarkable landmark legislation.”

The measure also creates an advisory council to keep studying towing policies and how owners get their vehicles back. The council would also ensure the portal is being used and administered correctly.

Towing companies have frequently complained that the fees they are allowed to charge are too low. The bill says fee rates should be set every three years, and those changes must be based on the consumer price index.

The DMV working group, composed of towing companies, consumer rights advocates and Department of Motor Vehicles officials, struggled to come to a consensus on policy changes. The DMV ultimately issued recommendations that didn’t have agreement from stakeholders.

Consumer advocate Raphael Podolsky, who served on the towing working group created under last year’s legislation, said the portal will mostly help towing companies do away with paperwork and make the system easier for the DMV to monitor. 

“First of all, everybody doesn’t have a computer, and second of all, everybody who does have a computer would not know to go to a DMV portal, and third, not everybody has internet access, even if they have a computer,” Podolsky said.

DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera said the portal will make his agency more transparent and will help consumers find their vehicles more quickly.

“You have to be accountable and take things head-on,” Guerrera said. “This portal that we will get running as soon as possible will allow someone to go online and — even without all their  information — find where their car is.”

Sal Sena, president of the industry association Towing & Recovery Professionals of Connecticut, said he thinks the portal will “make it easier for everyone” and that the state is “on the right track.”

Ginny is CT Mirror's children's issues and housing reporter. She covers a variety of topics ranging from child welfare to affordable housing and zoning. Ginny grew up in Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas' Lemke School of Journalism in 2017. She began her career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette where she covered housing, homelessness, and juvenile justice on the investigations team. Along the way Ginny was awarded a 2019 Data Fellowship through the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California. She moved to Connecticut in 2021.

Dave does in-depth investigative reporting for CT Mirror. His work focuses on government accountability including financial oversight, abuse of power, corruption, safety monitoring, and compliance with law. Before joining CT Mirror Altimari spent 23 years at the Hartford Courant breaking some of the state’s biggest, most impactful investigative stories.