Couple's Vehicle Was Towed During Broward Flooding. They Say It Took Days to Find It

Bianca Chavez and Raoul Hernandez said they faced a challenging situation last week: locating their car after it was towed during the historic floods in Broward County.

"I was driving the car, the car got stuck," Chavez told NBC6.

The married couple said their insurance company's roadside assistance sent a tow truck to bring their vehicle home, just two miles away from where it got stranded in floodwaters. 

 "I then pulled next to him (tow truck driver) and asked him, 'Hey, where is it that you're going because you're going the wrong way. Why didn't you follow us? Because it's supposed to be towed directly to our house,” Hernandez said.

According to Hernandez, the tow truck driver told them he needed to check in with both the insurance company and his bosses, and then the car would be brought to the couple's home.

"But from there, it turned into a nightmare," Hernandez added.

For days, they say they couldn't get answers about where the vehicle was.

"The only thing that we were getting out of them is 'we'll let you know,'" Hernandez said.

Ted Hollander, an attorney for the Ticket Clinic, explains that when calling for a tow, you should be notified of the towing company's name, the location of the lot where your car will be held, and the fees you need to pay.

"Ordinarily, the person is going to be notified which tow company is responding, there's a schedule of fees that are permitted by the ordinance, and those fees should be posted at the tow lot," Hollander said. 

Broward County also requires towing companies to be easily reachable and available for car owners, even in emergency situations.

"If you call and you want your vehicle back, no matter what time of the day it is, they have one hour to get to the tow lot and to release the vehicle. So they have to maintain normal hours, eight to six, for example, but they have to be available 24/7 to answer the phone and be at the lot within one hour to get that vehicle out," Hollander said. 

After filing two police reports, Chavez and Hernandez finally tracked down their vehicle in Miami, 17 miles away from Dania Beach, six days after it was towed.

"I don't wish this on anybody. We have never gone through this before and I hope nobody goes through this," Chavez said.

The Broward Consumer Protection Division, which monitors towing companies, says they need to be licensed to operate in the county.

If you are a car owner with a complaint, you can visit broward.org/consumer or dial 311 for assistance.

We asked the insurance company and the towing company why it took several days to track down the couple’s vehicle. By the time of publication, we had not received a response.