Car rental company Hertz‘s deceptive practices are driving people to sue, with dozens more joining a lawsuit saying they have been falsely accused of stealing the cars they rented and returned.
There are now 230 plaintiffs suing the rental company for more than $500 million in damages, an increase from the 180 people who filed the initial lawsuit with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in 2020. The lead attorney in the case, Francis Alexander Malofiy, indicated there are many more.
“What we know is that 230 is not the majority. … It’s the tip of the iceberg,” Malofiy said.
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Hertz revealed that it typically files 3,365 police reports about stolen vehicles each year, according to court documents unsealed earlier this week. Its former customers allege that the company is simply filing police reports when it misplaces the cars they’ve returned.
As a result of the alleged false reports, complainants have spent a total of 2,742 days behind bars, and they endured 3,600 months of prosecution, according to the filing.
Hertz attempted to have the lawsuit stayed as it filed for bankruptcy at the height of the pandemic. By filing for bankruptcy, all creditors, including these plaintiffs, were given 70 days from the day Hertz filed to get their claim.
Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware ruled Wednesday that 17 of the 32 plaintiffs who joined the lawsuit after it was filed should have been notified by Hertz about the deadline, allowing their cases to proceed.
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Hertz is fighting to reject all late complainants, according to court documents.
Now, the company has exited bankruptcy and has about 470,900 vehicles in its fleet. That’s an increase from the roughly 382,000 last year, but that is less than the 686,000 they had in 2019.
