Three corporate names. Five ownership structures. One family. 36 years. The complete factual history of the company that controls Chicago’s $45M/year towing operation — from 1989 to present.
The entity that operates Chicago’s towing program has used three names across its history while maintaining continuous family control:
Headquarters: Markham, Illinois (formerly Mokena, IL)
Current footprint: 16 cities across 12 states. The company dispatches approximately 300,000 tows, manages 100,000 impounded vehicles, and sells 30,000 unclaimed vehicles annually.
Environmental Auto Removal was incorporated on July 11, 1989 — nine days after Richard M. Daley’s inauguration as Mayor of Chicago. The company received the city’s towing contract almost immediately.
Founders:
Political infrastructure installed alongside the contract:
The arrangement echoed a prior era. In the early 1980s, Daley — then Cook County State’s Attorney — had opened a grand jury investigation into Illinois Scrap Processing, a politically connected towing firm favored by his enemies (Mayor Jane Byrne and Alderman Edward “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak). Daley argued taxpayers were being bilked. The investigation fizzled when he lost the 1983 mayoral election. When he won in 1989, a new towing deal materialized within days.
In 1997, a Chicago Tribune investigation discovered that the City had overpaid Environmental Auto Removal by nearly $1 million. The money was refunded after the Tribune’s inquiries, but no penalties were imposed. The contract continued.
Pattern established: Press discovers problem. Money returned. No penalties. Contract continues.
In March 2003, FBI agents raided Environmental Auto Removal’s South Side auto pound. Records and vehicles were seized. The investigation centered on an alleged interstate auto-theft ring: vehicles that had been reported as “crushed” were disappearing, receiving new titles, and resurfacing in Mississippi and other states. Several hundred of the suspect vehicles were traced to a car lot in Hebron, Indiana.
The vehicles involved were not typical abandoned beaters. Many were high-end luxury SUVs. Authorities suspected some cars were being towed not just from streets but from driveways.
No public charges were filed as a result of the investigation. The contract continued.
The 2003 Contract Rebid: When the towing contract came up for rebid in 2003, Environmental Auto Removal did not bid under its own name. Instead, its parent company, United Road Services, Inc. (Albany, NY), submitted a bid. Gerald Corcoran — Edward Corcoran’s son, and an Environmental Auto owner — was listed as president of United Road Services’ towing and recovery business unit. Same people, different letterhead. They won the contract, beating out Lincoln Towing Service, Triangle Towing and Recycling Network, and Azteca Enterprises LLC.
“The fact that Environmental Auto Removal is under federal investigation does not prohibit the city from doing business with its parent company.”
City of Chicago spokesperson, 2003In 2004, the Chicago Sun-Times exposed that the City was selling approximately 70,000 vehicles per year to Environmental Auto Removal at scrap-metal prices, regardless of the vehicles’ actual age or condition. Owners received nothing for their vehicles but still owed all fines and towing fees. EAR resold the vehicles through private auctions held at city auto pounds — closed to the public — and kept the proceeds. Even after purchasing a vehicle at auction, buyers had to pay an additional fee and use an E&R tow truck to remove it.
The city ultimately paid more than $100,000 to approximately a dozen people whose cars were wrongly towed and sold for scrap.
A competing bidder, Triangle Towing and Recycling Network, had previously offered to give the city roughly 70% of the profits from vehicle resales. The city rejected that offer, with then-Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez stating that “most vehicles left unclaimed at city pounds have no resale value.” The contract stayed with EAR.
The company and its owners had contributed more than $20,000 to Daley’s campaign by that point.
Also in 2004, the Sun-Times found that Environmental Auto’s subcontractors included individuals convicted of battery and serious drug crimes, who were driving tow trucks with city-issued “police tow” signs. No background checks had ever been required under the contract.
Environmental Auto Removal was renamed to United Road Towing in approximately 2006, following the 2005 divestiture of the towing division from United Road Services, Inc. The operations, leadership, and contract remained identical.
Edward Corcoran co-founded the company in 1989.
His son, Gerald “Jerry” Corcoran — a retired U.S. Marine (Master Gunnery Sergeant) — served as president and later CEO of United Road Towing from the 2000s through at least 2021.
Kevin Corcoran — who has been with the company and its predecessors since 1999 — became CEO in 2021. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of URT and Director of Human Resources and General Manager of E&R Towing. Kevin remains CEO of Vehicle Management Solutions as of 2026.
Three generations, one contract, 36+ years of continuous family control.
In 2010, the towing contract was competitively bid. URT won a new $31.5 million contract despite not being the lowest bidder. The only other bidder, Tegsco, was rejected. The city claimed Tegsco lacked experience handling Chicago’s towing “volume,” failed to provide an adequate staffing plan, and “relied on subcontractors to perform all towing services.”
Rather than rebid the contract, Mayor Rahm Emanuel in February 2014 granted URT a two-year, $16.5 million extension.
In 2016, the city issued a new towing contract worth an estimated $60 million over five years. United Road Towing was the sole bidder. Two other companies — Honeywell Building Solutions and Chicago United Industries — attended a pre-bid conference or picked up specifications, but neither submitted proposals. The contract was awarded without competition.
The City’s own Pre-Bid/Proposal Conference Attendee Register for Specification No. 135025 — “Impound Facility Management, Boot Release, Towing and Related Services” — dated December 7, 2015, is publicly available from chicago.gov. It records every person who attended the mandatory pre-bid conference for this $60 million contract.
The document lists nine attendees. Six were City of Chicago employees from Streets and Sanitation, Finance, and Procurement. The remaining three — the only private-sector participants in the room — were:
| Name | Company | Email Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Corcoran | E & R Towing | @unitedroadtowing.com |
| Becky Clancy | E & R Towing | @unitedroadtowing.com |
| Jerry Corcoran | United Road Towing | @unitedroadtowing.com |
E & R Towing is a known subsidiary of United Road Towing, operating from the same Markham, IL address (16325 S. Crawford Ave.). All three private-sector attendees used @unitedroadtowing.com email addresses. Kevin Corcoran — who would become CEO of Vehicle Management Solutions in 2021 — represented the subsidiary. His father Jerry — then-CEO of URT — represented the parent. They were the entire “market” for the contract.
What this means: Competitive bidding exists to create price discovery, ensure accountability, and give the public assurance that contract terms reflect market rates. When the only private participants in a $60 million procurement are a father and son representing two subsidiaries of the same company, on the same email domain, there is no price discovery, no competitive tension, and no alternative for the city. The bid price is whatever the Corcorans decide. The process generates a paper trail that reads “competitively bid” while producing a predetermined outcome.
This document is the City of Chicago’s own record of its own process. It is hosted on chicago.gov.
Campaign contributions: URT had made $40,185 in contributions to Chicago-area politicians in recent years, including:
The contributions were modest by Chicago standards but precisely targeted at the committee chairs with oversight authority. They are not evidence of quid pro quo in the legal sense. They are maintenance payments that flow to the exact officials who would need to act if anyone wanted to change the system. They don’t buy a specific vote — they buy inaction.
In Nevada, a class action lawsuit accused URT of charging unlawful fees, failing to provide itemized bills, and improperly selling vehicles in connection with “nonconsent tows” — vehicles towed without the owner’s request. The case went to trial in 2015 in Clark County. A court found URT liable for “unjust enrichment” affecting more than 100,000 car owners. The judgment was approximately $5 million.
On February 6, 2017 — just as the judgment was about to become final — URT filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 1:17-bk-10249), along with more than two dozen affiliates. The filing automatically halted collection of the judgment.
Court papers listed assets between $10–50 million and debts between $50–100 million, including $13.8 million owed to first-lien lender Wells Fargo and $19.4 million in second-lien obligations to Medley Capital Corporation. Ownership at the time was held primarily by Medley Capital Corp. and Milestone Partners II.
“The court process will allow us to reduce our debt. We expect that the company will be in an even better position over the long term.”
CEO Jerry Corcoran, February 2017In April 2017, the bankruptcy court approved a Section 363 sale of all assets to an affiliate of Medley Capital for approximately $40 million. The new entity, URT Acquisition Holdings Corporation, purchased the assets. All senior management, including Jerry Corcoran, was retained. All existing municipal contracts — including the Chicago contract — continued without interruption.
The Nevada class action judgment was effectively extinguished through the bankruptcy process.
Case No. 1:17-bk-10249, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein)
Assets: $10–50M. Debts: $50–100M. Filed February 6, 2017. Section 363 sale approved April 2017. Buyer: Medley Capital affiliate for ~$40M. All management retained.
WBEZ Chicago (NPR affiliate) conducted a multi-year investigation analyzing hundreds of thousands of towing records and filing over 100 public records requests. Key findings:
2016 Ford Mustang — $176.09
2014 Audi A3 — $147.15
2011 Mercedes M-Class — $143.33
1998 GMC Savana wheelchair van (with $10,000 lift) — $15.00
“Decades-long, practically for-profit” … “barely makes money for the city.”
WBEZ characterization of Chicago’s towing programAndrea Santiago, a senior citizen with multiple sclerosis confined to a wheelchair, owned a GMC van with a $10,000 hydraulic wheelchair lift, handicapped plates, and a placard. The family had parked it legally on their Jefferson Park street for years.
In June 2018, a single anonymous 311 call — which described the van incorrectly as a “four-door Chevy sedan” — triggered a seven-day abandoned vehicle sticker. The family says they never received mail notification. Neighbors signed a petition stating they did not report the van.
DSS towed the van. URT kept it at the auto pound for two weeks. As the contract allowed, URT then purchased the van from the city for $15. URT obtained a junk title and sold it to a salvage yard for $615. The van, including the wheelchair lift, was stripped, crushed, and destroyed.
CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini found that since 2017, Streets and Sanitation used URT to tow and store 4,178 “abandoned” vehicles. The city sold approximately 65% of them — 2,715 vehicles — to URT for $15 each.
Case No. 1:19-cv-04652, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Judge Kness)
Filed July 2019 by attorney Jacie C. Zolna of Myron M. Cherry & Associates. The complaint alleged the city had a systemic practice of “towing without telling” — impounding vehicles without providing legally required mail notice to registered owners.
In November 2020, a federal judge granted class certification covering two classes:
Tow Class: All individuals who, since June 2017, had vehicles towed as “abandoned” when the vehicle lacked current registration.
Vehicle-Disposal Class: All individuals who, since June 2014, had vehicles towed and disposed of by the City.
The City appealed. The case remains active as of early 2026 (last filing December 2024).
At least two more class actions were filed:
Following the 2017 bankruptcy, URT was owned by affiliates of Medley Capital Corporation. At some point circa 2019, The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), one of the world’s largest private equity firms, together with Milestone Partners, acquired an interest in URT.
In July 2022, Mill Point Capital LLC, a middle-market private equity firm based in New York, acquired Vehicle Management Solutions (still doing business as URT at the time). Kevin Corcoran was named CEO and member of the Board of Directors.
The ownership transition involved approximately $335 million in debt being converted to equity by investors whose identities are not publicly disclosed. The company claims zero long-term debt following the conversion. Jerry Corcoran transitioned to a chairman role.
In March 2023, United Road Towing rebranded as Vehicle Management Solutions (VMS).
“We are excited to unveil our new identity, which represents the diversification of our business beyond towing.”
Kevin Corcoran, CEOThe rebrand occurred during the pendency of the Santiago class action, the DOJ’s El Paso investigation, and while the Chicago contract was approaching its expiration date.
In February 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit: United States of America v. City of El Paso; United Road Towing, Inc. The suit alleged that URT and another contractor, Rod Robertson Enterprises, had impounded and auctioned 176 vehicles belonging to active-duty military service members without court orders, violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).
The investigation was triggered when Fort Bliss soldier LTC Lisa Dechent discovered her 2016 Chevrolet Silverado had been towed and auctioned for $6,200 while she was deployed in Afghanistan. She still owed $13,000 on the loan.
Despite having a written SCRA compliance policy, URT allegedly “failed to determine whether the owners of any vehicles it auctioned, sold, or otherwise disposed of were SCRA-protected servicemembers.” URT auctioned 33 such vehicles between May 2019 and February 2020. Rod Robertson Enterprises auctioned 143 between January 2015 and April 2019.
URT: $57,395 in damages to 50 affected service members + $24,980 civil penalty
Rod Robertson: $140,000 in damages to 122 affected service members + $20,000 civil penalty
City of El Paso: $20,000 civil penalty + $130,000 in legal fees
“Members of our armed forces should not have to worry about their cars being auctioned off while they are on the front lines defending our freedoms, liberties and rights.”
Assistant Attorney General Kristen ClarkeURT was required to implement SCRA training for all employees and verify military status of vehicle owners before auctioning. The company retained its El Paso contract.
The current Chicago towing contract — the $60 million, five-year agreement awarded in 2016 with extension options — is expiring in 2026. Whatever renewal, rebid, or restructuring occurs is being negotiated during the pendency of the Santiago class action, in the wake of the El Paso DOJ settlement, and against the background of WBEZ’s investigation and two rounds of City Council reform legislation.
Based on 2017 data — the most comprehensively documented year via WBEZ’s investigation:
| Revenue Stream | Amount | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Tow fees, storage fees, boot fees paid by vehicle owners | ~$23M | City of Chicago |
| City payment to URT under contract | ~$12M | URT |
| City employee salaries, pensions, operating costs | ~$10M | City workforce |
| URT purchase of ~24,000 unclaimed vehicles (scrap price) | ~$4M | City (from URT) |
| Estimated actual value of those vehicles (NADA) | ~$22M | URT (via resale/auction) |
| URT’s estimated vehicle-value spread | ~$18M | URT |
| City net | ~$5M | City |
| Total value extracted from Chicago drivers | ~$45M | — |
| URT’s share of total extracted value | ~$30M (67%) | URT |
The company that tows the cars is the same company that buys them. The notification system that determines whether owners can reclaim vehicles in time is controlled by the City. The City sends that notification by bulk mail.
| Period | Entity Name | Ownership / Control |
|---|---|---|
| 1989–2003 | Environmental Auto Removal | Edward Corcoran, Martin McNally |
| 2003–2006 | United Road Services (parent) / EAR (operating) | Gerald “Jerry” Corcoran (president of towing division) |
| 2006–2017 | United Road Towing | Medley Capital Corp., Milestone Partners II; Jerry Corcoran CEO |
| 2017 (bankruptcy) | URT → URT Acquisition Holdings Corp. | Medley Capital (363 sale buyer); Jerry Corcoran retained as CEO |
| ~2019–2022 | United Road Towing | The Carlyle Group, Milestone Partners; Jerry Corcoran CEO |
| 2022–present | URT → Vehicle Management Solutions | Mill Point Capital LLC; Kevin Corcoran CEO (since 2021) |
Three corporate names. At least five ownership structures. One family. One contract. 36+ years.
| Year | Event | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | City overpaid EAR ~$1M (Tribune investigation) | Refunded after press inquiry; no penalties |
| 2003 | FBI raid on South Side auto pound; interstate auto theft ring | No public charges; contract renewed |
| 2004 | Sun-Times exposes 70,000 cars/year sold at scrap price | City pays $100K+ to wronged owners; contract continues |
| 2004 | Convicted felons operating as EAR subcontractors | No background check requirements added |
| 2010 | URT wins contract despite not being lowest bidder | Contract awarded ($31.5M) |
| 2015 | Pre-bid conference for $60M contract: only attendees are Jerry & Kevin Corcoran + subsidiary employee | Contract awarded to URT as “sole bidder” |
| 2015 | Nevada class action: unjust enrichment, 100K+ victims | $5M judgment entered |
| 2017 | Chapter 11 bankruptcy (Delaware) | 363 sale to Medley for ~$40M; judgment extinguished; all management retained |
| 2018–2019 | Santiago wheelchair van: $15,000 van sold for $15 | Federal class action filed; class certified 2020; pending |
| 2020 | Two additional federal class actions (notification failures) | Pending |
| 2023 | DOJ sues over towing/auctioning 176 soldiers’ vehicles (El Paso) | Settlement: ~$83K damages + penalties from URT; contract retained |
| 2023 | Rebrand to Vehicle Management Solutions | Ongoing |
| Name | Role | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Corcoran | Co-founder, Environmental Auto Removal | 1989–2000s |
| Martin McNally | Co-founder, president of EAR; attorney linked to Jeremiah Joyce | 1989–2003 (sold stake) |
| Gerald “Jerry” Corcoran | President → CEO, URT; Edward’s son | 2000s–2021 (transitioned to chairman) |
| Kevin Corcoran | E & R Towing rep at 2015 pre-bid → COO → CEO, URT/VMS | 1999–present |
| David Corcoran | General Manager, URT (2010 contract key personnel) | 2010–? |
| Jeremiah Joyce | Former state senator; Daley’s closest political operative | Background figure, 1989–2000s |
| Eileen Carey | Commissioner, Dept. of Streets and Sanitation (Joyce’s sister-in-law) | 1989–? |
| Nello Sabatini | City towing administrator (Joyce operative) | 1989–1998 |
| Michael Tadin | Owner of auto pound lot land (Daley friend) | 1989–? |
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| City of Chicago — Pre-Bid Attendee Register, Spec 135025 (2015) | chicago.gov [PDF] |
| WBEZ — “Chicago’s Towing and Booting Program Is Broken” (2019) | wbez.org |
| Chicago Tribune — “FBI Pays Call on Towing Firm” (2003) | chicagotribune.com |
| Chicago Tribune — “Towing Scandal Doesn’t Need More Spice” (2004) | chicagotribune.com |
| Chicago Tribune — “Parent of Probed Tow Firm Offers Bid” (2003) | chicagotribune.com |
| Chicago Tribune — “Towing Firm Tied to Probe Gets Pact” (2003) | chicagotribune.com |
| Chicago Sun-Times — “$60M Towing Contract” (2016) | suntimes.com |
| Chicago Sun-Times — “26-Year Grip” (2016) | suntimes.com |
| Chicago Sun-Times — “The City Stole My Car” (2004) | suntimes.com |
| CBS Chicago — Santiago wheelchair van (2019) | cbsnews.com |
| Chicagoist — “Shady-Sounding Towing Company” (2016) | chicagoist.com |
| Law360 — “Ch. 11 To Avoid $5M Judgment” (2017) | law360.com |
| SSG Capital — URT 363 Sale advisory | ssgca.com |
| Newswire — URT 363 sale completion (2017) | newswire.com |
| BusinessWire — Mill Point Capital acquisition (2022) | businesswire.com |
| BusinessWire — VMS rebrand (2023) | businesswire.com |
| KVIA — El Paso soldiers lawsuit (2023) | kvia.com |
| KVIA — El Paso settlement (2024) | kvia.com |
| Carscoops — El Paso settlement (2024) | carscoops.com |
| DOJ — Consent Order, U.S. v. United Road Towing (2024) | justice.gov |
| ClassAction.org — URT case archive | classaction.org |
| VMS company website | vmsolutions.com/about/ |
| Tow Industry Week — Ch. 11 filing | towindustryweek.com |
| News 4 San Antonio — SA towing bankruptcy (2017) | news4sanantonio.com |
| Mergr — Carlyle acquires URT | mergr.com |
| City of El Paso Press Release (2023) | elpasotexas.gov [PDF] |
This document contains only factual claims sourced from published investigative journalism, federal court filings, bankruptcy court records, Department of Justice proceedings, city contract records, corporate press releases, and SEC filings. It is not legal advice.