City cracks down on illegal car sales and vehicle repairs

A new ordinance has gone into effect that aims to end the practice of using city streets like used car lots called “curbstoning.”

Curbstoning is the selling of unregistered and unlicensed vehicles parked curbside by unlawful dealers posing as private sellers for profit allowing sellers to avoid consumer protection regulations that could defraud buyers, according to Carfax.com.

“Now, any car that is parked in the public roadway without plates and city stickers will be towed away immediately,” said Ald. Jeylu Gutierrez (14th), ordinance co-sponsor.

Gutierrez said the ordinance improves resident safety, ensures better street cleaning, and increases parking availability for residents who pay an additional fee for residential permits.

The ordinance was approved Feb. 19 and took effect March 22.

During an interview, Gutierrez told the Southwest News-Herald that monitoring and starting the towing process was to begin March 24. 

“I will contact the Police Department and the Department of Streets and Sanitation to see how many cars were towed throughout that weekend,” Gutierrez said. “We are sending requests for tows from our constituents, including some streets we have identified already, with a high amount of cars parked in the public way.”

She said the ordinance was a warning to on-street auto dealers and mechanics to obtain legitimate business properties and operating licences.

100,000 vehicles that are illegally parked, abandoned or used for illegal purposes are towed annually, according to the Streets and Sanitation Towing Process website.

The new ordinance targets parked vehicles not displaying valid state license plates or a state registration “placard” for 10 hours or more and carries a $100 fine that compounds daily, according to the ordinance’s Section 9-80-110 titled “Abandoned Vehicles.” 

Vehicles will be flagged as abandoned if it cannot be driven and is still in place after seven days.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), who has also struggled with the removal of illegal on-street vehicle mechanics and sales in his ward, has additional concerns.

“Unfortunately, we know that this is a lucrative underground part of our economy, the sale of refurbished or auctioned vehicles, often coming from Iowa, Indiana and other neighboring states, are shipped here and then put on the street,” he said.

The revenue lost to the City of Chicago when a resident buys a car off the street could be significant, he said.

A vehicle titled and registered to a Chicago address is subject to an 8.5% total tax, including the 1.25% Chicago Home Rule Tax, according to the MyTax Illinois website.

“It’s hard to enforce Lemon Laws if you buy a car that’s, unfortunately, defective or has some issues,” Lopez said. “There are laws that protect the consumer if you purchase it from a reputable dealer or seller. That doesn’t apply to street dealers and they are hard to enforce if you buy it from some person off the street.”

Due to tickets built-up on vehicles parked on city streets for long periods of time, purchasers have discovered their never-driven new car booted because it has seven or eight city parking violations charged against it, he said.

“These are not reputable sales that come with receipts and tax information making it very difficult to prove, other than a pull from your ATM receipt for $5,000 that you actually purchased something,” Lopez added.

Illegal car repairs done in residential garages and under-the-table auto body painting are another negative effect on legal businesses, he said. 

“Hopefully, this is just the beginning of the City of Chicago cracking down on all that illegal activity,” Lopez said. “We can start getting a hold on what’s going on in our neighborhoods and steering consumers into revenue generating businesses that produce taxes that pay for government in the City of Chicago.”

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