Marines Whose Cars Were Sold by Towing Company Will Be Repaid Under Court Settlement

Source: Military.com

Marines Whose Cars Were Sold by Towing Company Will Be Repaid Under Court Settlement

Rebecca Kheel
Thu, December 28, 2023 at 12:38 PM EST·3 min read

The owner of a North Carolina towing company will have to repay Marines whose vehicles he allegedly improperly sold off, including in at least one case when a Marine was deployed, the Justice Department announced this week.

Billy Joe Goines, who owns the Camp Lejeune-adjacent Goines Towing and Recovery, will pay $66,805 in restitution under a proposed settlement agreement with the Justice Department over allegations he violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA. The settlement agreement is pending approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

"Service members sacrifice a lot -- and, in many cases, everything," Michael Easley Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a news release announcing the settlement Tuesday. "Debt collectors and towing companies shouldn't be allowed to take and sell their property behind their backs. The Justice Department will vigorously enforce service members' rights under the SCRA. Try to illegally take property from a Marine and find out."

The SCRA, which provides several legal and financial protections for service members, requires towing companies to file an affidavit stating whether a car's owner is a member of the military before they can sell the vehicle. If the owner is in the military, a court can't authorize selling the vehicle until it appoints an attorney to represent the interests of the service member.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/marines-whose-cars-were-sold-173834528.html

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