Justice Department Scores Win Against Rogue Towing Outfit For Repossessing, Selling 20+ Vehicles Belonging To Servicemembers Without Court Orders

In Norfolk, Virginia, Air Force Times reports:

• The Justice Department has scored a victory for service members against a Norfolk, Va., towing company that sold off more than 20 service members’ cars without court orders in recent years. The civil case is not over; it will go to trial next year to determine damages owed to the service members whose vehicles were towed by B.C. Enterprises Inc., doing business as Aristocrat Towing.

• But the decision clarifies protections for troops under the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act and sends a clear message to industry, according to SCRA experts. The decision affirms that service members “have the right not to have their vehicles sold at auction without a court order ... even if they did not notify the towing company of their military status in advance,” said Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar.

For more, see Towing company improperly sold off troops’ cars, court rules.

(1) According to the story, Section 537 of the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act states that without a court order, a person holding a lien on the property or effects of a service member cannot foreclose or enforce any lien during any period of military service by the member and for 90 days afterward. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, reportedly ruled that Section 537 is a “strict liability” provision, meaning service members do not need to take any action to be protected. “Even if the defendants exercised utmost care in investigating their victims’ military status, they face liability for their actions,” wrote District Judge Robert Doumar in his Nov. 6 order, the story states.

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