Beware of this towing company | Morning Newsletter
And what $1,700 in rent gets you
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Welcome to Sunday. It’s breezy, and there’s a chance of rain and snow. Temps will reach near 41.
Two drivers say they faced exorbitantly high bills after a West Philly towing company showed up at the scene of their car crashes. Our main story highlights their experiences and how the city hopes to protect drivers from similar predatory behavior.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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As Mar Alegre, 28, waited for police to arrive at the scene of her car crash in July, a tow truck showed up. It had the words “police rotation” emblazoned on its side.
She asked how much it would cost to tow her vehicle, and was told “insurance will pay for it.” Still in shock, Alegre signed a “towing agreement” slip that left the cost blank.
It turns out the insurance company wouldn’t cover the costs, and Alegre learned that the towing company, Recovery Unit 1 LLC, was charging them more than $900 for the tow, storage, and unexplained fees.
This was hundreds of dollars more than maximum fees companies in Philadelphia’s rotational towing system are permitted to charge.
Important context: The city’s rotational tow system consists of a preapproved list of tow companies dispatched to accident scenes. Companies pay to participate, and agree to caps on what they can charge. The goal is to protect drivers from predatory behavior at the hands of towing companies.
Alegre thought the truck that showed up to her accident was a part of this system. A police spokesperson said it wasn’t.
Keep reading for more on Alegre and another driver’s experience and what the city suggests to protect yourself from deceptive towing practices.
It depends on where you live.
National apartment search website RentCafe looked at apartment sizes in zip codes in the 50 biggest cities to find out how much space $1,700 in rent can get you.
Why $1,700? It’s a rough estimate of the national average cost of rent this past fall.
Some key takeaways:
🏠 A $1,700 monthly budget can pay for 944 square feet on average.
🏠 Of 1,665 zip codes that RentCafe analyzed, the 30 where renters get the least space for that price are in New York. In these places, the largest apartment is 290 square feet and the smallest is 211.
🏠 Southern and Midwestern states offer some of the biggest apartments for $1,700.
🏠 In Philadelphia, $1,700 can get you a spacious, roughly 1,500-square-foot apartment in the Northeast, or less than 500 square feet in West Philly.
Use our map to go zip code by zip code and see what this budget can get you across Philly, and in other cities in the Northeast.
What you should know today
President Joe Biden will visit Philly-based food bank Philabundance on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The visit will mark Biden’s third trip to Pennsylvania in less than two weeks.
You can celebrate the birthday of King and honor his legacy of social justice and equity at one of these events in the city.
Snow squalls producing blizzard-like conditions are possible Sunday as the Philly region gets a taste of actual winter. And it turns out we got some measurable snow after all last weekend.
Police said a woman and a 3-year-old child were killed early Saturday when the car in which they were riding crashed into a tree at Valley Forge National Historical Park.
A Camden County child tested positive for measles, health officials said Friday night. The child visited two health-care facilities and a day-care center, and officials are currently contacting people who were exposed.
A person was fatally struck by a SEPTA train in the tunnel between 30th Street and 34th Street Stations on Friday night.
A former Philly police commander will be reinstated after a criminal case against him fell apart. He had been accused of sexually assaulting women at work.
For only the second time in a century, Famous 4th Street Deli in Queen Village has been sold. Only the locks will change.
The Eagles will enter the postseason without A.J. Brown as a knee injury will keep the wide receiver from playing Monday’s wild-card playoff game at Tampa Bay, according to an NFL source.
A new exhibition that aims to create a greater understanding of the homelessness crisis through the power of art and information opened this weekend at the Mütter Museum.
Wissahickon Brewing Co. is opening a new location this summer, bringing its bold, award-winning beer and kombucha to Olde Kensington.
❓Pop quiz
Snow shoveling is necessary, but can be dangerous.
Which of the following is NOT recommended by experts when shoveling snow?
A) Warm up, pace yourself and drink plenty of water
B) Dress in warm layers, a hat and gloves, and cover your nose and mouth
C) Lift and throw the snow rather than push it
D) Use your legs to keep blood from pooling in your lower extremities
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Beloved Philadelphia rock jock
PROBE TERRIER
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Judy Pidgeon who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Marcus Morris. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like.
Photo of the day
🎶 Today’s Sunday track goes like this: “And if you find yourself in a dark situation / Just turn on your light and be like / ‘Yes, and?’”
👋🏼 Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. This newsletter will take a break for a few days, so expect us back in your inbox on Wednesday. Until then, you can keep up with the latest news on inquirer.com. Take care.