San Francisco's grappling with predatory towing practices took a concrete turn today as City Attorney David Chiu declared a victory for the city's drivers. An Order of Debarment has hit Auto Towing, the company now infamous for illicitly towing cars, barring it from bidding or winning contracts with the City and County for the next five years. The company's actions, making headlines in recent months, involved towing vehicles without property owners' consent and creating an obstacle course for owners trying to reclaim their property.
The San Francisco Attorney's Office issued a statement detailing the saga that led to the debarment. After an administrative hearing, which found Auto Towing's practices a flagrant violation of state and local laws, a hearing officer tipped the scales in the public's favor. "Auto Towing engaged in predatory behavior and unfair business practices," Chiu said. He emphasized that scammed San Franciscans were misled out of hundreds of dollars through Auto Towing's unauthorized removal of their cars.
It started with a series of illegal tows earlier this year from a bank parking lot, where Auto Towing hauled off unsuspecting victims’ vehicles without permission. Adding to the frustration, records show that illegally towed vehicles were taken to a different location than the company's permitted address, 1229 Underwood Avenue, complicating recovery efforts for vehicle owners.
The process for debarment is an administrative one, and contractors can be banned from city contracts for up to five years following a breach of conduct. In light of the welfare fraud scheme charges against Auto Towing's owners, Abigail Fuentes and Jose Badillo, along with several affiliates in February, City Attorney Chiu suspended them, a move precluding them from accessing City funds while legal proceedings are underway. This suspension was enabled by 2020 legislation aimed at curbing contractor corruption by providing immediate responses to such transgressions.
