DeKalb County couple keeps getting notices that car that hasn't been theirs in years was impounded in Chicago

GENOA, Ill. (CBS) -- A couple in DeKalb County got 12 notices from the City of Chicago in the past week saying their car was impounded.

But there is just one problem with all this - they haven't even been to Chicago in months, and their car is safe and sound at home.

So the husband turned to CBS 2's Tim McNicholas with what he calls a waste of time and resources from City Hall.

In Genoa, Illinois, 60 miles from Chicago, Jay Hencken doesn't find many reasons to visit the city.

"I don't like crowds, and I don't like all the traffic," he said.

So imagine his surprise last week when the Henckens got four first class letters from the City of Chicago saying their car had been impounded.

The next day, the couple got four more of the same notice. Hencken said he wanted to make sure the mistake didn't affect his vehicle registration - but when he called City Hall, he didn't get much clarity.

"That's when the person kept saying, 'Computer glitch, disregard;' wanted to just kind of dismiss me out of hand," Hencken said.

Hencken hoped that was the last of the letters. But a few days later, he opened his mailbox he found four more impoundment notices.

So our producer, Paige Tortorelli, asked the Illinois Secretary of State's Office about the car. They confirmed it's not registered to the Henckens, but to someone living in Chicago.

It turns out Hencken did own the car before his insurance bought it after it was badly damaged from a fallen tree--but that was more than 10 years ago.
Somehow, the notices still went to the Henckens.

"The paper, the ink, the man hours or woman hours of actually putting all this together and putting it in motion - if they would have just checked and done what Paige did by looking into it and calling the Secretary of State's office, they might have been able to avert this," Hencken said.

Hencken says he's lucky, because he can wait on hold then sort it out with City Hall. But he's more concerned that the next person won't have so much free time.

A city spokesperson said they immediately corrected the glitch and they're not aware of anyone else affected. The city says the car's new owner applied for a temporary license plate and never fully transferred the vehicle to his own name.