GRAND CROSSING — Ald. Roderick Sawyer is trying to get residents refunds after their cars were towed from a vacant lot where they parked during a city project that tore up the street in front of their homes.
The 6th Ward alderman said that a private contractor, hired by the city to replace the water main in the 7400 block of South Vernon Avenue, told residents that they couldn’t park their cars on the street during the project, which started in late February.
Sawyer and residents said they were told they could park in an empty lot on the end of the block at 422 E. 75th St. Sawyer said there initially was no sign saying they couldn’t park in the lot, and the residents parked there for several days without a problem.
But on Wednesday, the residents awoke to see their cars towed — and a sign saying parking wasn't allowed.
The police chief with the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates towing companies, said cars cannot be towed if a sign isn't present.
"The sign has to be in place prior to towing,” said Michael Hartigan, who is with the Des Plaines Transportation Division.
Multiple messages left for the company that Sawyer said towed the cars, Rendered Services Inc., were not immediately returned.
The lot is adjacent to what used to be Army & Lou’s, a popular South Side soul food restaurant, whose diners included the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali and Mayor Harold Washington. It closed a few years ago and has been empty since.
Cora Smith, who lives on the block, said she was surprised to find that her car, her daughter’s car and eight others had been towed when she awoke Wednesday morning.
"There wasn’t any sign, and so we parked there all last week with no problem," said Smith, 75.
According to the tow truck receipt, Smith’s car was taken at 4:47 a.m. Her husband of 59 years had died just two days before the cars were towed, and she said she was overwhelmed mentally and financially. She went to the towing company lot at 3611 S. Iron St. and paid $436 to get her and her daughter's car from the towing company. The company charged an additional $48 a day for storage.
“It’s just upsetting because I don’t have that money," she said. "I’m trying to figure out how to pay my bills now with my husband gone because we both were on Social Security and now it’s just mine."
She and other residents said a worker with Reliable & Associates Construction Co., the subcontractor in charge of the construction project, had pointed them to the lot.
A representative of the company, who declined to give his name, denied that.
"None of our foremen even have the authorization to tell anyone where to park,” he said Monday.
“You have 10 residents who decided to park their cars there. Did they call anybody? Did they get verification that they could park on the lot? Obviously they know the city contractor doesn’t own the lot or any lots.”
Sawyer was notified by the Water Department about the situation, and since then he has been working to get residents their money back.
“In the middle of the night, Rendering Services Inc. places a sign on a pole — not the building — tows the cars, and now these people are out of a couple of hundred dollars apiece,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer is encouraging the residents to file a theft complaint together. The commerce commission said it can't investigate until a formal complaint is filed.
“I want to stop them from doing this," he said. "I really want to put them out of business."
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