‘It’s like a bounty system’: Angry drivers in Omaha left waiting days to get their towed vehicles back — now the tow operator is facing charges. What you need to know about ‘predatory towing’

Is this a one-off or part of a growing trend? Below, we explore the data on predatory towing practices — and the consequences the owner of Heartland Towing faced.

Multiple delays

When the drivers who had their cars towed over the weekend called the towing service, they were met with only an answering machine. “If your vehicle was towed away from private property, please call back during normal business hours from 10am to 3pm Monday through Friday.”

However, a holiday Monday prevented these drivers from getting their cars back in a timely manner.

“He had a bunch of people over the weekend he was towing and when people came to claim their cars he more or less said I’m closed, I don’t work holidays,” said Hernan Hernandez, one of the vehicle owners.

On the following Tuesday, the drivers told police and reporters they were faced with more delays.

“You got to wait hours or come back later or come back tomorrow because he can’t get them out because he’s got so many piled in there that he can’t get to them,” said Justin Ewing, one of the drivers. “So until everybody in front of you picks up their car, you can’t have yours back.”

Another problem: the owner of the lot, Joe Livinston, had been detained by police.

Even owners who had their fees ready to pay in cash were stuck. One couple took an Uber to the tow lot, only to find they were among those whose vehicle was buried in the full lot.

Others relied solely on their vehicles to get around. “My car is all the way in the back. It’s very frustrating because you know I was supposed to go see my kids today, my lady, supposed to go to work,” another vehicle owner said.

Others had crucial identification documents or car seats locked away in their towed vehicles.

While some of the drivers had parked in an empty lot with a ‘no parking’ sign, others had left their vehicles in the lot of a former Walgreens store, where there was no chain preventing such parking.

Illegal towing

Predatory towing practices are common in the industry.

The New York Times reported in 2021 that these practices can include private contracts between businesses and towing companies to tow cars left in their lots over the time limit. While that’s perfectly legal, Eric Friedman, the director of the office of consumer protection in Montgomery County, told the Times that the tow companies are incentivized to be aggressive.

Towing companies pay “spotters” to watch the lot and report on anyone who goes over their time.

“It’s like a bounty system,” Friedman said. “It really has nothing to do with parking.”

The Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) reports that towing fees can also mount up quickly. Only about half of states have laws dictating maximum fees for towing, or storing towed vehicles (without the driver’s consent). There are only 14 states where “spotting” illegally parked cars is prohibited. And worst of all for the drivers in Omaha, theirs isn’t one of only nine states that legislate that towed cars must be available for owners to pick up at any time of day, as long as they communicate with the tow lot beforehand.

The increasing rate of predatory towing is also impacting professional drivers. A 2023 study from the American Transportation Research Institute found that 82.7% of truck drivers were charged excessive rates for having their trucks towed and a further 81.8% of carriers were charged “junk fees” on top of their tow.