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Katie Wedell and Laura Layden, USA TODAY
Thu, March 3, 2022, 12:13 PM·18 min read
Paula Murray wasn't thinking about the car she'd rented from Hertz in 2016 when she walked into a State Police station in January of 2021 to finalize her new job as a dispatcher.
She'd filled out the paperwork for the required background check without hesitation. She'd even brought her grandchildren along to see her launch her new career.
Instead, the children watched their grandmother be handcuffed; arrested for allegedly stealing a car she'd in fact returned to Hertz five years earlier.
The job offer was gone and Murray spent the next three months trying to get answers from the car rental company, headquartered in Estero, Florida, before her charges were dismissed on March 30.
She's now one of 230 plaintiffs suing Hertz for false arrest and in some cases prosecution. The lawyers for this cohort say they know there are more cases out there – warrants for arrest that people who rented from Hertz years ago don't even know exist, like ticking time bombs waiting to explode their lives at any moment.
In recently unsealed court documents, Hertz admitted it files an average of 3,365 police reports about stolen vehicles involving its customers each year. That means over the past seven years since false theft report cases have been known to occur, theft charges have been levied against more than 23,000 people. How many of them were innocent paying customers is unknown.
"What we know is that 230 is not the majority. … It's the tip of the iceberg," said Francis Alexander Malofiy, the lead attorney for the claimants, based in Pennsylvania.
"You're talking 20,000 people who were stuck in the criminal justice system because they had a dispute or an issue with their rental, or that (Hertz) couldn't find their car."
Hertz responded to USA TODAY about this story with a statement that said, "Hertz cares deeply about our customers, and we successfully provide rental vehicles for tens of millions of travelers each year. Unfortunately, in the legal matters being discussed, the attorneys have a track record of making baseless claims that blatantly misrepresent the facts."
According to court documents, the current group of claimants has spent a total of 2,742 days in jail or prison because of false arrests. That's more than seven years. They've endured a collective 3,600 months of prosecution. Some took plea deals, admitting to stealing cars they didn't steal, just to make the ordeal stop.
Other cases are still pending, so those totals are evolving.
Hertz has described the suits as meritless and the accusations as baseless, vehemently defending itself in court documents and company statements.
Further, Hertz contends the vast majority of the customers involved in the suits failed to return their cars for "weeks past their due date," violating their rental agreements, despite the company's "repeated attempts to communicate with them about the status of the vehicle."
A hearing in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Wednesday was described as pivotal for Hertz.
A 'make-or-break' day in court
On Wednesday, Judge Mary Walrath heard arguments from both sides on whether to allow 32 of the claimants to continue with their cases in bankruptcy court.
She agreed that 17 of them should have been notified about Hertz's bankruptcy claim deadline. Those cases now move forward along with about half of the 230 which were filed before that deadline and 14 that already cleared the hurdle of being "known creditors" by Hertz.
Walrath ruled 10 claims didn't meet the standard to be notified about the bankruptcy, but those cases are not thrown out, Malofiy said. The lawyers have additional arguments that could get those cases ruled back in.
Hertz's lawyers declined to proceed with rulings on another 77 claims during Wednesday's hearing so those will be decided at a later date.
When Hertz exited bankruptcy last June, the false arrest lawsuits stayed behind unresolved, as the company focused on re-establishing itself as a rental car leader. Collectively, the claims stand as the last big legal hurdle for the company to overcome, with customers seeking more than $500 million in damages combined.
If you've rented a car from Hertz, there could be a warrant out for your arrest
Katie Wedell and Laura Layden, USA TODAY
Thu, March 3, 2022, 12:13 PM·18 min read
Paula Murray wasn't thinking about the car she'd rented from Hertz in 2016 when she walked into a State Police station in January of 2021 to finalize her new job as a dispatcher.
She'd filled out the paperwork for the required background check without hesitation. She'd even brought her grandchildren along to see her launch her new career.
Instead, the children watched their grandmother be handcuffed; arrested for allegedly stealing a car she'd in fact returned to Hertz five years earlier.
The job offer was gone and Murray spent the next three months trying to get answers from the car rental company, headquartered in Estero, Florida, before her charges were dismissed on March 30.
She's now one of 230 plaintiffs suing Hertz for false arrest and in some cases prosecution. The lawyers for this cohort say they know there are more cases out there – warrants for arrest that people who rented from Hertz years ago don't even know exist, like ticking time bombs waiting to explode their lives at any moment.
In recently unsealed court documents, Hertz admitted it files an average of 3,365 police reports about stolen vehicles involving its customers each year. That means over the past seven years since false theft report cases have been known to occur, theft charges have been levied against more than 23,000 people. How many of them were innocent paying customers is unknown.
"What we know is that 230 is not the majority. … It's the tip of the iceberg," said Francis Alexander Malofiy, the lead attorney for the claimants, based in Pennsylvania.
"You're talking 20,000 people who were stuck in the criminal justice system because they had a dispute or an issue with their rental, or that (Hertz) couldn't find their car."
Hertz responded to USA TODAY about this story with a statement that said, "Hertz cares deeply about our customers, and we successfully provide rental vehicles for tens of millions of travelers each year. Unfortunately, in the legal matters being discussed, the attorneys have a track record of making baseless claims that blatantly misrepresent the facts."
According to court documents, the current group of claimants has spent a total of 2,742 days in jail or prison because of false arrests. That's more than seven years. They've endured a collective 3,600 months of prosecution. Some took plea deals, admitting to stealing cars they didn't steal, just to make the ordeal stop.
Other cases are still pending, so those totals are evolving.
Hertz has described the suits as meritless and the accusations as baseless, vehemently defending itself in court documents and company statements.
Further, Hertz contends the vast majority of the customers involved in the suits failed to return their cars for "weeks past their due date," violating their rental agreements, despite the company's "repeated attempts to communicate with them about the status of the vehicle."
A hearing in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Wednesday was described as pivotal for Hertz.
A 'make-or-break' day in court
On Wednesday, Judge Mary Walrath heard arguments from both sides on whether to allow 32 of the claimants to continue with their cases in bankruptcy court.
She agreed that 17 of them should have been notified about Hertz's bankruptcy claim deadline. Those cases now move forward along with about half of the 230 which were filed before that deadline and 14 that already cleared the hurdle of being "known creditors" by Hertz.
Walrath ruled 10 claims didn't meet the standard to be notified about the bankruptcy, but those cases are not thrown out, Malofiy said. The lawyers have additional arguments that could get those cases ruled back in.
Hertz's lawyers declined to proceed with rulings on another 77 claims during Wednesday's hearing so those will be decided at a later date.
When Hertz exited bankruptcy last June, the false arrest lawsuits stayed behind unresolved, as the company focused on re-establishing itself as a rental car leader. Collectively, the claims stand as the last big legal hurdle for the company to overcome, with customers seeking more than $500 million in damages combined.
If you've rented a car from Hertz, there could be a warrant out for your arrest
