How to Report an Abandoned Vehicle in Chicago

That car that hasn't moved in weeks — flat tires, expired plates, windshield full of tickets — doesn't have to become part of the block. Chicago investigates abandoned-vehicle reports through 311, tags qualifying cars, and tows the ones that don't move.

What counts as “abandoned” in Chicago

Not every long-parked car qualifies. On the public way, the city generally treats a vehicle as abandoned when it shows signs like these:

• Hasn't moved for an extended period — the common benchmark is roughly seven days in the same spot.
• Looks inoperable — flat or missing tires, major damage, broken windows, missing parts.
• Missing or long-expired plates or city stickers.

A working car that a neighbor simply parks for a long time usually isn't “abandoned” in the city's eyes — the investigator makes that call. And a vehicle abandoned on private property (your lot, a private parking area) is a different process for the property owner, not a standard 311 street request.

What to include in the report

Abandoned-vehicle requests live or die on identification. Give 311:

• Exact location — address or intersection, which side of the street, or the position in the alley.
• Make, model, and color — “silver Honda sedan” is enough if you don't know models.
• License plate if one is visible — the single most useful detail. No plate is itself worth noting.
• Condition and how long it's been sitting, best you can tell.
• Photos — they capture plate, condition, and position in one shot.

File by calling 311 (312-744-5000 from outside the city), at 311.chicago.gov, or through an Open311 app like Chicago Works from the sidewalk next to the car.

What happens after you file

Your request gets a service request (SR) number and an investigator checks the vehicle. If it qualifies, the city affixes a tow warning sticker giving the owner a window to move it. If it's still there after the window — or if it's a hazard — it's towed to the pound and the request closes. If the car moves in the meantime, the request may close as resolved; if it just rolled a block over, file a fresh report at the new spot.

Why bother reporting at all? Beyond the parking spot it wastes, a derelict car is a magnet for the block's other problems: dumping in and around it, broken-glass break-ins, and rats nesting underneath. It also blocks street sweeping along that stretch of curb. One five-minute report starts the clock on all of it — and the same applies to junked vehicles sitting in the public alley behind your home.

Reporting it with Chicago Works

This is a report you make standing next to the car, and the app is built for exactly that:

1. Photograph the vehicle — get the plate and the flat tires in frame.
2. Auto-locate — GPS pins the exact spot and detects the ward; drag the pin if the car sits mid-alley.
3. Pick Abandoned Vehicle, add the description, submit. It files straight into the city's official Open311 queue — no call, no sign-up.

Then the Service Tracker follows the request through the city's system — open, in progress, closed — so you'll know when the investigator has been out without walking past to check for the orange sticker.