A SoCal tow company accused of illegally selling service members vehicles reaches settlement with feds

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Set us as preferred In the spring of 2024, a Marine Corps legal assistance attorney called a Southern California towing company with a warning.The company could not sell an active-duty service member’s car without first obtaining a court order, the attorney allegedly reminded the manager and owner of the company.“We do this all the time,” the attorney claimed the owner responded.That phone call was used as evidence in a federal lawsuit accusing S&K Towing Inc.of illegally auctioning or disposing of 148 vehicles of active-duty service members stationed at Camp Pendleton, a massive military base housing about 42,000 active-duty military members, over a five-year span beginning in August 2020.

Some of the cars were towed while soldiers were serving overseas, the lawsuit alleges.On Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced a settlement with the San Clemente-based company.According to the settlement, the company agreed to pay about $160,000 to military personnel whose vehicles were towed by the company in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a federal law that provides financial and legal protections to active-duty military members and their families.

California Two suspects were arrested and face federal charges after breaching Camp Pendleton during a traffic stop.Their car was carrying pounds of cocaine and fentanyl.A spokesperson for the company did not immediately response to a request for comment.

But in its response to the federal lawsuit, the company defended itself in court records, denying some of the allegations.The company said its contract with Camp Pendleton did not make any reference to the federal law.

“This defendant will admit that it’s best to abide by [state laws] when it came to enforcing its lien rights on vehicles where the registered owner was properly notified and failed to retr...