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Party Bus Operators May File Lawsuit Against The City After Threat Of Shut Down From Ordinance Violations

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago's crackdown on party busses is likely to result in a lawsuit, according to one operator.

Chicago Cloud 9 Limo is among the 17 operators of party buses singled out by the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection as "operating illegally."

Owner Dan Cosma said the department has it wrong about his and other companies.

"They really need to do their homework," Cosma said. "They are saying for three days they have been investigating all those companies and they wrote I don't know how many citations. We never got a citation. We never got a ticket. We did not get notified about any of this. We know about the ordinance, we are up to date."

The city announced on Monday it was moving to shut down the 17 operators.

Cosma said since Tuesday, the phone has pretty much stopped ringing, except for calls from customers who already have bookings, who are asking if the bus is going to show up.

"This is very damaging and I don't know how it can be fixed now," he said. "I understand things happen, bad things happen on party buses in Chicago and they should look for those companies that do, in fact, operate illegally."

Cosma said he's talked to about half of the companies on the list and several of them insist they are operating legally.

Cosma notes that three on the list have U.S. Department of Transportation licenses, which makes them exempt from the city's ordinance.

He said he and several other owners are meeting with a lawyer on Monday.

WBBM shared Cosma's concerns with the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and are waiting for comment.

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