New Haven Independent

Alvin Torres had his suspicions — about this auction, and about the way towing companies sell off abandoned cars in general in New Haven and in Connecticut.

Torres was one of four bidders who showed up at Catapano Towing on Kimberly Avenue last week. He responded to a tiny legal notice in the Register. Like other towers, Catapano auctions off ticketed vehicles it tows if the owners don’t come to claim them.

A 24-year-old hospice worker who used to be employed at a used-car lot, Torres regularly attends these auctions both in New Haven and throughout Connecticut and New York. At Catapano’s, he had his eye on a Chevy Malibu for his 18-year-old goddaughter Quetta. Click on the play arrow at the top of the story to follow him along at the auction.

Auctions at Catapano’s are mellow affairs. No one calls out bids. Instead, co-owner Benny Amarone shows people what’s available. He then has them fill out sealed bids.

Bidders need to bid at least as much as the towing and storage fees that have accumulated on the car. However, Amarone doesn’t tell them what that figure is. And no one knows what anyone else bid. (Towing charges are $24 per day for the first five days, then $28 a day. The towing charge runs around $88.)

Amarone (pictured) said he opens the bids, alone, at the end of the day. If he feels someone bid enough to buy the car, he notifies the bidder. Otherwise, Amarone keeps the car.

Although the process is regulated by the State Department of Motor Vehicles, Amarone said, no one besides him looks at the bid or checks in on the sale process.

“That’s private,” Amarone said of the accumulated costs. “If I don’t feel the bids cover the charges, I get it.”

“That’s the way it is. A sealed bid. That’s all.”

Alvin Torres said he feels the bidding should be an open process, and bidders should know the minimum they need to bid to qualify to buy a vehicle.

“Somebody that can’t get a car, needs to get a car, has a harder time,” he said.

Rossi Sher, 75, of East Haven was also bidding on the Malibu. Before his retirement Sher ran used-car lots in Milford. He said he has no objection to sealed bids or to not being told the minimum he must bid.

“That would be unfair,” he said.

Amarone told Torres and Sher after the mid-morning “auction” that he’d contact them after 4 p.m. if either of them succeeded in their bids for the Malibu.

Reached the next day, Amarone reported that no one had bid enough. Catapano’s was keeping the car.

These auctions are regulated by Sec. 14-150 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Click here to read it; scroll down to subsections (g) and (h) for the relevant rules.

Those rules state that the garage owner conducting the auction “may” set a minimum bid to cover towing and storage charges. He/she doesn’t have to.

The statute is technically silent on whether the auctioneer must tell bidders what that minimum is, so that the bidders know how much they need to offer to qualify.

State DMV spokesman Bill Seymour said the department interprets the statute to mean that bidders must be informed of the minimum.

“Our position is that they should tell them,” Seymour said Tuesday. “In order to achieve the minimum bid — which is what the statute is designed to do — they would need to tell people. The statute is not there so they can keep the car.”

The statute is also technically silent on the question of whether garage owners can hold sealed-bid auctions or whether the bidding and outcome should be revealed in public view. Seymour said that based on the Independent’s inquiry, DMV Commissioner Bob Ward will “have more to say” soon.

“Commissioner Ward, who’s been here for 14 months, is going to look at this process and wants to learn more from our people exactly why this exists the way it does — and whether it’s allowed by our regulations. This is the first time the issue has been raised.”

Under the guidelines, garage owners must hold auctions for vehicles that are worth more than $1,500. After the sale, Seymour said, the garage owners are supposed to keep only the amount of money owed for storage and towing. They’re supposed to try to reach the car’s original owner by registered mail to hand over the rest of the money. If that fails, the money is supposed to go to the state.

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