Have you rented a car from Hertz? if yes then you could be arrested and prosecuted because according to The Sun, “more than 23,000 of the car rental firm’s customers have had theft charges levied against them over the past seven years”.
And now, a total of 230 customers are dragging Hertz to the law court for false arrest – “with some claiming false prosecution”.
Here is all about Hertz customers suing the car rental:
In recent court documents, Hertz reportedly acknowledged that it files 3,365 police reports about stolen cars involving its customers on average every year.
One of them is a grandmother who goes by Paula Murray, who was arrested in January 2021 for allegedly stealing a car.
It added that false theft cases regarding Hertz’s rental units have been known to occur, but that the exact number of innocent customers is unclear.
The court documents show the group suing Hertz has spent a cumulative 2,742 days behind bars.
Additionally, lawyers on the suits claim there are even more warrants for arrests from people who have rented from Hertz.
“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.
“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.”
Here is what Hertz is saying about the claims:
Hertz has repeatedly denied the claims made by the customers that say they’ve been falsely arrested or prosecuted.
A spokesperson told The Sun that it “cares deeply” about its customers and that the “attorneys have a track record of making baseless claims that blatantly misrepresent the facts”.
The suits claim that Hertz has a “pattern of missing inventory” and immediately files police reports rather than conducting an internal investigation to ensure records are correct.
Hertz told The Sun that customers involved in the suits failed to return their cars “weeks or months” beyond their due dates.
It also alleged that they “stopped communicating with us well beyond the scheduled due date.”
“Situations where vehicles are reported to the authorities are very rare and happen only after exhaustive attempts to reach the customer.”
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