Calverton Park reaches settlement over unconstitutional vehicle towing practices

Summary

• Settlement resolves class action against Calverton Park.
• More than 100 residents to receive compensation.
• Lawsuit challenged vehicle towing and “Special Tax Bills.”
• City agreed to revise nuisance and towing ordinances.

Almost three years after filing the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary settlement in Christina Reise, et al. v. City of Calverton Park, et al.

The $465,000 settlement will be divided between over 100 people whose vehicles were towed at the direction of Calverton Park and had to pay an unauthorized “Special Tax Bill” to the city, according to ArchCity Defenders.

The class action lawsuit was filed by ACD in October 2023.

In addition to the financial compensation, the settlement also requires Calverton Park to amend its nuisance ordinances to stop categorizing vehicles as “derelict” or a “nuisance” simply because their license plates are expired or missing, limit how much residents can be charged for “Special Tax Bills” and ensure that a resident who attends a towing hearing is able to make their case to a neutral party.

The original lawsuit sought damages on behalf of plaintiffs who alleged Calverton Park violated their constitutional rights by towing vehicles with expired or missing license plates from private driveways. The city claimed that because the vehicles had missing or expired plates, they were “derelict” despite being parked on private property.

“We are extremely proud of our clients who bravely challenged these practices,” said ACD staff attorney Brianna Coppersmith in a statement. “We are glad this settlement will allow class members to recoup the unjust costs they paid and that the City’s ordinances have changed, effectively ending this pernicious towing cycle.”

Residents who had their vehicles towed had to pay towing and storage fees to the tow company, as well as a “Release Fee” to Calverton Park to get their vehicles back. Some residents were unable to afford to get their vehicles back. Additionally, regardless of whether the vehicles were released, the city would send the residents a “Special Tax Bill.” The lawsuit alleged these fines were excessive and unconstitutional.

The lawsuit also claimed that the city’s code enforcement officer instigated the tows by submitting misleading warrant applications without notifying the owners in advance, and without holding a hearing where the impending tow could be challenged.

“Calverton Park put our clients in an impossible position of having to scrape together hundreds or thousands of dollars, all without having the very cars they relied on to get to work and make a paycheck,” stated Maureen Hanlon, a managing attorney at ACD.

The issue became known in May 2023 after a resident caught her car being towed from her driveway for having 2-month-old expired temporary tags. The resident claimed she was saving to afford the state vehicle tax required to get current plates when it was towed. Despite Calverton Park’s ordinance requiring notice, a hearing and a period of time to address the alleged nuisance, the city did not follow those requirements before towing the vehicle.

The case is Christina Reise, et al. v. City of Calverton Park, Case No. 4:23-cv-01335-SEP.