Chicago temporarily suspends debt collection, ticketing, and towing
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced today that the city is temporarily suspending the issuance of some tickets, the collection of debt, and penalties for late payment.
The measures take effect immediately and will last through April 30. They are intended to help reduce the financial impact of COVID-19 on the city’s residents.
“This is a common-sense way that we can help mitigate the burdens and pressures many are feeling,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “We know that these practices disproportionately impact the residents that are most in need during this crisis.”
“We realize that many of our residents are strapped for cash right now as the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus has created difficult economic circumstances for those who are unable to work. We don’t want to further impact people who can’t afford to pay these penalties today and want to provide some breathing room to help them prioritize how to address their financial obligations,” Lightfoot added.
Here are more details from the mayor’s office:
- Ticket Issuance
- Enforcement will be prioritized for safety-related violations.
- Enforcement on compliance-related violations will be suspended until April 30, 2020
- Parking, Red Light, Speed Camera Violation Collections
- Delay assessment of penalty (ticket doubling) until after April 30, 2020
- Delay driver’s license suspension until after April 30, 2020
- No Booting until after April 30, 2020
- Delay referral of tickets to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
- No defaults of payment plans for until after April 30, 2020
- Utility Bills
- Extend due dates until after April 30, 2020 delaying assessment of penalties
- Delay referrals to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
- No defaults of payment plans until after April 30, 2020
- Administrative Hearing Collections
- Extend due dates until after April 30, 2020 (this will delay assessment of interest)
- Delay referrals to collection firms until after April 30, 2020
- No defaults of payment plans until after April 30, 2020
- Other Collection Efforts
- Extend deadline for TNP and taxi drivers to pay debt to April 30
- No debt holds on new licenses or permits
