EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – The U.S. government has accused an El Paso towing company of illegally auctioning, selling, or disposing of vehicles belonging to Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA)-protected service members deployed from Fort Bliss. There are plans to reach a settlement.
In 2023, the U.S. government charged the City of El Paso, United Road Towing, Inc., and Rod Robertson Enterprises, Inc. with towing and selling military vehicles from May 2019 to June 2023. A lawsuit was filed for violating the law.
According to court documents, the United States has identified 50 military personnel protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. So far, 176 military vehicles have been identified. You can read his previous ABC-7 coverage of this story from last year here.
On May 7, 2023, the federal government and United Road Towing (URT) reached an agreement. Some conditions are outlined below.
- United Road Towing will check to see if a vehicle belongs to a military member before selling it.
- URT will send you government policies and procedures regarding vehicle sales, including verifying whether the vehicle being auctioned or sold belongs to a SCRA-protected military member.
- URTs are expected to provide training on SCRA policies to all employees.
- URT will deposit $57,935 in compensation for service members into an interest-bearing escrow account.
- The U.S. Government will provide URT with a final list of affected service members within eight months of the effective consent order date.
- Any funds remaining in the Settlement Fund will be paid to the U.S. Treasury.
In October 2023, the city of El Paso filed a lawsuit against URT and Rob Robertson Enterprises, claiming that the city did nothing wrong pursuant to its contract with the parties and seeking relief from them. did.
The city is expected to receive an update on this lawsuit during the executive board meeting on Monday, May 20th.
