Proposed Colorado Bill Aims To Protect Owners Of Towed Vehicles

DENVER (CBS4) – A bill making its way through the Colorado House aims to protect the rights of car owners who've been towed. A task force within Colorado's Public Utilities Commission reviews hundreds of consumer complaints against towing companies every year. A bill sponsored by Representative Naquetta Ricks would change who reviews these complaints.

"Too often, people are just being taken advantage of. For example, it's $180 just for them to pick up a car. Then they charge per mile. They charge for storage fees. They also charge for after hours. I've had several people say that the average towing fee was at least $300," said Ricks. "The average family doesn't have $400 in their savings account."

Earlier this week, CBS4 met a couple whose car was wrongfully towed from their apartment's garage. Sarah Sersch was able to get her car released for free, but being without a vehicle led to a day of missed wages.

"Most people in this neighborhood can't afford to get their car back for a small parking infraction," said Sersch. "Those lost wages hurt. Now we may not be able to get some groceries when we need them."

The bill Ricks is sponsoring, HB21-1283, will study the makeup of the task force that reviews towing complaints. According to the bill, the task force is would change to replace a member who represents towing carriers with a member who represents mobile homeowners. It would also replace a member who represents an association of motor carriers with a member who represents common interest community unit owners.

"We're trying to make it a little more consumer-friendly because right now the makeup is more industry people. We are making changes to the task force to include someone from the consumer protection arm of the Attorney General's Office. We are changing the makeup to include insurance carriers because they sometimes reimburse for towing," explained Ricks.

The bill also states that it aims to add two members to the task force to represent communities that might be disproportionately affected by nonconsensual towing, such as communities of color, immigrant communities, elderly communities and rural communities.

"Typically they target people who live in HOAs or mobile home parks. These are lower-income people who are being penalized just because their car is towed. It's just adding more insult to injury," said Ricks.

Ricks says she understands the need for towing contracts and is not against a business making money, but they need to be reasonable. She says fees shouldn't be so punitive.

"People have to make a choice. Do I pay my rent this month, do I pay for childcare, or do I go and get my car?" said Ricks. "These companies are money-making machines. We want to protect consumers. We want to ensure that the towing fees are fair."

This bill goes before the committee on May 13 at 1:30 p.m.

People can either testify in person, remotely via WebEx, or they can submit written testimony.

Here is the link with options to testify: https://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2021A/commsumm.nsf/signIn.xsp

Once you choose a method, you will then select "By committee and hearing item."

Use the drop down menus to select "House Business Affairs & Labor," "5/13/2021 01:30PM," and "House Business Affairs & Labor HB21-1283 (Vehicle Towing Consumer Protection [Ricks, Hooton])."