The Justice Department and the City of San Antonio, Texas have reached an agreement that resolves allegations that the city violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act when it auctioned off or otherwise disposed of vehicles owned by service members without first obtaining the required court orders.
“Service members who serve our country honorably should not have to come home to find their only means of transportation and its contents have been auctioned off to the highest bidder,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the DoJ's Civil Rights Division in a release.
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The city must pay $47,000 in compensation to two service members who claimed it unlawfully auctioned off their cars while they were in military service, according to the Justice Department.
Under the terms of the agreement, San Antonio must also establish a $150,000 settlement fund to compensate other service members whose rights under the SCRA may have been violated. It must also pay a $62,029 penalty to the Treasury Department.
The DOJ launched its investigation following a complaint from Air Force Staff Sgt. Paula Rangel. In her complaint, she alleged that the city had towed and auctioned off her vehicle while she was deployed to Afghanistan.
After learning that her vehicle had been impounded at a city vehicle storage facility, Rangel and her military legal assistance team made repeated phone calls to arrange for its release.
“During these phone calls, they identified Staff Sgt. Rangel as an active duty service member who was deployed overseas,” the release reads. “Despite these efforts, employees at the storage facility refused to release the vehicle to members of Staff Sgt. Rangel’s military unit and would not allow them to remove her personal property and military equipment from the vehicle.”
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Rangel’s vehicle was sold without the court order mandated by the SCRA for $6,600 on Sept. 21, 2016. The DOJ investigation also found that San Antonio auctioned off at least 227 vehicles registered to SCRA-protected service members without the required court order from 2011 to 2016.
“The settlement requires San Antonio to adopt new procedures to investigate the military status of any registered owner prior to auctioning a vehicle,” adds the release.
The city will also be required to obtain a court order or a valid SCRA waiver permit before auctioning a vehicle owned by a protected service member. The agreement is subject to final court approval.
The DOJ has obtained over $474 million in monetary relief for over 120,000 service members through its enforcement of the SCRA since 2011. Service members and their families who believe their rights under the SCRA have been violated should contact their nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.