An undated image posted online by Goines Towing & Recovery shows tow trucks operated by the company, which is involved in a legal settlement with the Justice Department. The settlement addresses allegations of violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by towing and selling vehicles belonging to service members without proper court disclosures. (Yelp)
A North Carolina tow-truck operator must pay almost $67,000 to settle claims that he repossessed and sold vehicles owned by Marines deployed to Okinawa and elsewhere overseas, according to federal prosecutors.
Billy Joe Goines, owner of Goines Towing and Recovery outside Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., agreed to the reimbursement amount in a settlement, court documents filed Tuesday said.
He also will forgive storage fees charged to the eight Marines and take training on the legal rights of military personnel.
“Debt collectors and towing companies shouldn’t be allowed to take and sell (service members’) property behind their backs,” U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in a statement Tuesday.
The federal government sued Goines and his company in March based on claims he had thwarted legal protections for deployed service members.
The case is the first brought by the U.S. against a towing company under a section of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that requires them to submit an affidavit as to whether the owner of a repossessed vehicle is in the military, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The law intends to give troops their day in court, even if they are not physically present in the country because of deployments or military service.
Prior to asking for a court judgment to sell a vehicle, repo companies are supposed to check whether its owner is in the military.
If so, the court cannot authorize a sale until it appoints a lawyer to represent the interests of the service member.
Goines told the court that he and his employees couldn’t determine that, even when they had towed the vehicle from the parking lot of a barracks on the base.
In one instance, the company filed an affidavit saying it could not tell whether the owner of a Toyota FJ Cruiser was in the military, despite the fact that the owner had called to say he was deployed to Okinawa, according to court documents.
“Goines took a Marine corporal’s SUV from a parking lot near Camp Lejeune while he was deployed in Okinawa. Then Goines asked a court to let him sell it and keep the proceeds, without ever flagging the corporal’s service for the court,” Easley said in Tuesday’s statement.
Under the terms of the settlement, which must still be approved in federal court, seven service members whose vehicles were sold would receive cash for the value of their vehicles plus $500, provided they agree to the deal.
Goines also was ordered to return a 2005 Ford Mustang and $1,500 to another service member as part of the settlement.
