by: Diane Benjamin
On Friday I got THREE certified letters from the City of Chicago. At a cost of $3.50 each, my husband and I were notified that our vehicle was impounded for Altered Tags. All 3 letters were identical except one had my name and 2 had my husband’s – more government efficiency in action. The problem: State Farm totaled that vehicle in March, the car was impounded on June 28th.
When we met the Claims Adjuster at State Farm, the lady explained they have a company in northern Illinois, I think Rockford, that picks up all the vehicles to dispose of them. Since it was difficult to tell the car was wrecked, it looks like this company re-sold the vehicle.
Now, think. Who would buy a car without a title? Obviously the Secretary of State’s Office was not notified that the car was Salvage and that we no longer owned it. So, whoever drove it in Chicago didn’t obtain it legally. We have the plates, so it must of had a temporary tag in the window. The expiration date just kept getting changed – until Chicago grabbed it. Think maybe an illegal immigrant would fall for a cheap car, maybe not realizing they needed the title?
The saga expanded when a friend told me she received notice that her car had been impounded in Moline. Problem was, it had been traded in at the local Mitsubishi dealership and most likely sold at auction because it was a piece of junk. The auction sold the vehicle to somebody, maybe another company like the above, who then put it back on the streets. Obviously that title didn’t get changed either.
In my case, an unsafe car was on the streets of Illinois. In both cases, Illinois did not receive the plate and title fees it deserved. Worse, do you think anybody driving these vehicles bought insurance?
Illinois voted to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, maybe now we know what at least some are driving.
Thank the Brady bunch for making us all so much safer: http://blnnews.com/2013/01/08/illegals-get-drivers-licenses/
Corruption abounds in Illinois, so the chances of anybody investigating are minimal. State Farm should want to insure that unsafe vehicles aren’t on the road. If they total a vehicle, they should notify the Secretary of State’s Office. One of their vehicles could kill or injure opening them up to a big lawsuit. At the very least, they should be concerned that a current policy holder is upset that our names are still on a title to an impounded car in Chicago.
One more note. I called the Chicago phone number listed on our notices. It was a recorded message. One option was to fax supporting documents if the vehicle wasn’t ours. Sounds like they know there is a problem.
