Stolen cars and thousands in tow lot fees spurs Louisville councilmembers to change law

In the early hours of the morning on Black Friday in 2023, Virginia Heye's Kia was stolen for the second time since she's owned it.

That day, Louisville Metro Police officers found her car and towed it to Metro's impound lot on Frankfort Avenue, said Valerie Vogedes, Heye's daughter.

People typically had to pay a tow charge, handling charge and a fee for every day their car sits in the lot. However, those who could show proof their vehicles were stolen have fees waived and a 21-day amnesty period for picking their car up from the lot.

People had to prove their car was stolen by supplying a police report. Only then could the car be taken off the tow lot premises without fees.

But Heye had a mix-up with her police report — including a mishap that required officers to redo the report, Vogedes said — and was initially charged more than one thousand dollars for exceeding the tow lot's 21-day grace period.

"That was money my mom didn't have," Vogedes said. "So they said, 'Well, we can't release the car without the payment.'"

After a series of phone calls and complaints, Vogedes was able to get her mother's fee waived with the help of Councilman Dan Seum Jr. and an LMPD officer, but not all are so lucky.

Seum has heard of multiple instances where those with stolen vehicles are "victimized again" with fees after being unable to retrieve their cars during the amnesty period due to extenuating circumstances. Another person's car, for example, was so damaged it couldn't be driven off the tow lot — another tow truck would have had to come to pick it up.

"(He) didn't have the money to get it towed," Seum said. "And while he was fighting his insurance company, three weeks had lapsed and a friend finally loans him the money to get his car out of the lot and went up there and they were going to charge him $1,200 and were putting it on the auction block."

Around the same time Vogedes and her mother were trying to get her car out of the lot, Councilwoman Paula McCraney received a call from Deputy Chief Steve Healy, who was concerned about this policy.

By the end of the call, McCraney said she believed these people "were absolutely being victimized" again in the process of retrieving their stolen vehicles. She then approached the Jefferson County Attorney's Office to discuss solutions and begin drafting a revision to the law, she said. Seum was also working on a resolution to this issue.

Ultimately, Seum, McCraney and four other council members co-sponsored an ordinance that will remove fees for people whose stolen vehicles end up in the tow lot under specific conditions including hospitalization, military leave and other special circumstances.

It will also allow people whose requests were denied for special circumstances to appeal them to the Chief of Police — or "his or her designee" — for reconsideration.

"I do realize that not collecting some of these fees may cost us a little bit of money at the end," Healy said at a Public Safety Committee meeting Feb. 7. "But I believe these individuals that have had their car stolen, they've already been victimized and its already a traumatic event for them and if they have situations out of their control I think we should have the autonomy to waive those fees."

It passed unanimously out of committee and went before the full Metro Council Thursday night, where it was approved on the consent calendar.

In Louisville, nearly 20 vehicles are reported stolen each day and half of those are either a Kia or Hyundai, The Courier Journal previously reported.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Metro Council expands amnesty laws for stolen cars