Connecticut lawmakers approved more reforms Wednesday aimed at curbing towing companies in the state, following a report from the Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica that issues outlined in state law.
The Connecticut Senate has passed a bill that would create an online portal for Connecticut drivers to track their towed cars and require towing companies to consider the age of towed vehicles before selling them.
Last year, lawmakers revised state towing laws ending a practice where towing companies could begin the process of selling individuals’ cars in as little as 15 days if the company estimated the car was worth less than $1,500. The window was one of the shortest in the country, CT Mirror and ProPublica found, and meant many people who could not afford to pay towing fees promptly lost their cars.
The 2025 reform law required a 30-day delay before cars could be sold and ordered towing companies to accept credit cards, let people collect their belongings towed cars and warn owners before towing cars from private property in case of minor problems.
But CT Mirror and ProPublica continued to hear from residents that they never received notice that their cars would be sold because their address on file was outdated or because their vehicle was still registered to someone else. News agencies also conducted an analysis which found that many towing companies price vehicles well below their estimated retail valueallowing them to sell vehicles more quickly.
The Connecticut Senate sought to address both of these issues with the latest bill, in part through the creation of the portal. The legislation, Senate Bill 413, would place new limits on the quick sale of cars: Towing companies would only be able to sell vehicles after 30 days if they are at least 15 years old.
The new bill passed the Senate by a vote of 35 to 1. The House is expected to vote on it in the coming days.
“There are bad actors,” said Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, co-chair of the Transportation Committee. “We heard about it in the press. That’s what pushed us to act and really review our towing statutes as a whole.”
She said lawmakers wanted to find language that struck “that necessary balance between protecting consumers from predatory behavior and supporting the many reputable small businesses that provide these essential services to our communities.”
The bill received bipartisan support. Committee 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 measures come in part from a task force created by last year’s towing reform law, which has spent the past several months studying towing policy and making recommendations.
The task force, made up of towing companies, consumer advocates and Department of Motor Vehicles officials, has struggled to reach consensus on policy changes. DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera, who chaired the task force, ultimately made recommendations this did not receive support from all panel members.
The new bill would create an advisory council to continue studying towing policies and how owners recover their vehicles. The board would also monitor the portal, which would be set up by the state DMV and allow owners to see where their vehicles have been towed and whether they are for sale.
The bill also addressed towing fees. Towing companies often complain that the fees they are allowed to charge are too low. The bill states that fee rates should be set every three years and that these changes must be based on government measures of inflation.
Guerrera said the portal will make his agency more transparent and help consumers find their vehicle faster.
“You have to be responsible and take things head on,” Guerrera said. “This portal that we’ll get up and running as soon as possible will allow someone to go online and, even without all their information, find where their car is.”
But consumer advocate Raphael Podolsky, who served on the task force, said the portal would primarily help towing companies eliminate paperwork and make the system easier for the DMV to monitor. He warned that some drivers may not be able to access the system.
“First, not everyone has a computer, and second, not everyone who has a computer knows to go to a DMV portal, and third, not everyone has access to the Internet, even if they have a computer,” Podolsky said.
Sal Sena, president of the Towing & Recovery Professionals Industry Association of Connecticut, said he believes the portal will “make it easier for everyone” and that the state is “on the right track.”
