Army recruit says special protections prevent tow company from holding and selling his vehicle

John Culbertson is in Fort Moore, near Columbus, Georgia, enduring basic training for the U.S. Army.

According to a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, his vehicle — a 2008 silver Honda Fit — is impounded in All-Ways Towing & Storage’s lot in Hallandale Beach, along with all of the 23-year-old’s possessions.

Culbertson’s suit claims the company has no right to hold it. Because he’s in the military, he says he’s entitled to special protections created to keep his mind focused on protecting the country.

The towing company hooked his car up while it was parked at the Village at Eastpointe Apartments off North Dixie Highway in Oakland Park, the suit states. As it pulled the vehicle out of its parking spot, the suit claims, the tow truck company ignored a parking permit from the apartment that was on the dashboard.

The tow, just before June 1, was the second time in 23 days that All-Ways removed Culbertson’s car from the parking lot.

The first time All-Ways took the car, on May 8, Culbertson paid an Uber driver $29 to drive him 16 miles to the tow yard, then used borrowed money to pay $161 for the towing cost, storage fee and penalty.

After the second tow, Culbertson decided to sue All-Ways to get it back. His suit might mark the first time the company has been accused of violating federal laws that protect service members.

The lawsuit, filed by Culbertson’s friend, John Mills, who lives at Village at Eastpointe Apartments, states that All-Ways is violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a federal law, and Florida’s Uniformed Service Members Protection Act. Both of the laws provide extra protections for service members from actions that would adversely affect their rights during military or uniformed service.

Among the protections are measures barring companies from “foreclosing or enforcing” liens on storage of property or effects of service members without a court order.

On Tuesday, Alexandra Alegria, who identified herself as All-Ways’ owner, said she hasn’t been served, “and so I’m unaware of the lawsuit.” But she said, “If he’s enlisted, he can call and come and pick it up.”

That’s not the response that Mills said he received when he went to the company and asked that the car be released.

Mills, a retired attorney who moved to the apartment complex from New York in February, said he filed the suit as an attorney-in-fact for Culbertson.

The two met when Mills needed help moving a heavy stone table into the house, Mills said.

“I’d hired this guy (to help), but when it came time to move the table, he said, ‘I’ve got a guy.’ And he makes a call and (Culbertson) just showed up and picked up one end of the table.”

The men became friends, Mills says, and Mills learned from his landlord after the first tow on May 7 that the apartment complex requires visitors to display a parking permit on their dashboards when they visit.

So Mills secured one from his landlord on May 8 and gave it to Culbertson when the young man appeared at Mills’ apartment with friends to celebrate his induction. It was the day before he had to be in Fort Moore. Mills told Culbertson that he could park his car there until he could afford and arrange for long-term storage during his four-year enlistment.

On Memorial Day, Culbertson stored “virtually all of his personal property in his automobile, parked it (with the parting permit displayed on the dashboard) in (Mills’) space and departed for basic training,” the complaint states.

After he left, at some point by or before June 1, an All-Ways driver found Culbertson’s car again and towed it 16 miles to its lot in Hallandale Beach, where it still sits, the lawsuit states.

“I went down there,” Mills said, “and said to them, ‘This guy’s going into the Army. He’s going to defend you. Do him a solid and release his car.’ They looked at me as if I’d asked them to surrender their first born.”

Because All-Ways is allowed to sell vehicles that go unclaimed for 35 days after they are impounded, Culbertson and Mills are seeking an emergency order from the judge that would prevent All-Ways from violating a provision of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that prevents “a person holding a lien on the property or effects of a servicemember” from foreclosing on the property or effects without a court order.

The act gives courts the ability to stay the proceeding for a period of time “as justice and equity require,” or adjust the obligation to preserve the interests of all parties.

Violations are punishable by a year in jail and financial fines of $55,000 for the first violation and $110,000 for future violations.

Towing and storage companies have been charged with violating the act.

In 2020, ASAP Towing and Storage in Jacksonville agreed with local prosecutors on a plan to pay back sailors and soldiers whose cars were towed and sold since 2013. In a statement posted on his company’s Facebook page, ASAP’s owner outlined plans to improve the company’s method of identifying whether vehicle owners were serving in the military.

All-Ways also violated county laws governing tow drivers, the lawsuit alleges, because the vehicle was parked in a private lot, was not obstructing access to a private driveway, was not restricting the normal order of business, and was not the subject of a removal request by a landlord.

The Better Business Bureau’s website gives All-Ways an “F” rating. The company’s BBB page includes six complaints by individuals about how the company treated them when they sought return of their vehicles.

All-Ways has also been the subject of other lawsuits alleging that it illegally towed vehicles.

In 2020, the company was accused in a lawsuit of illegally towing two vehicles parked at Palm Terrace Apartments in Fort Lauderdale. The court found the company liable for $425, plus attorneys fees and court costs. A 2019 lawsuit accused All-Ways of damaging a car it towed from a separate Fort Lauderdale parking lot. That plaintiff won a default judgment in the case, and All-Ways was ordered to pay $5,167.

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.