Hertz settles with $168M for customers falsely accused of auto theft

ATLANTA - There is a $168 million settlement announcement from the Hertz rental car companies. The Fox 5 I-Team first told you about Georgia customers who complained they were falsely arrested for stealing their rental cars.

Hertz rental company and its subsidiaries have been fending off hundreds of claims that it falsely accused people of auto theft. These mistakes though cost people their jobs, public humiliation and sometimes jail time.

Paul-Anthony Knight was on his way to work when he got pulled over on a busy spot on the connector. Guns were drawn.

"I was told this vehicle has been reported stolen. I was in a stolen vehicle," he told FOX 5 back in March.

He was charged with felony theft of the rental car he was driving. This man, with a clean record up until that day in 2019, spent a week in jail and lost his job.

March 2021, Bianca DeLoach was pumping gas on Godby Road. Same tale - suddenly surrounded by police and arrested.

"I said, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ They have all their guns drawn at me. My children are sitting in the car."

She was jailed for nine days, claiming all along she was falsely arrested for stealing her rental car.

Hertz announced on its company website it will settle "364 pending claims related to vehicle theft reporting" for a total of $168 million by year’s end.

Hertz Global Holdings also operates Dollar and Thrifty rental car brands.

In several local cases, Hertz is on the record for being no-shows in court, after victims lost jobs and secured attorneys. In Paul-Anthony Knight’s situation, the judge finally dismissed the case.

The attorney for Hertz company clients falsely arrested, said it was lazy bookkeeping that led to personal nightmares for the rental car company’s customers.

"And their response is you are stuck in the system now," Francis Malofiy told the FOX 5 I-Team last spring. "You are on your own."

Neither Mr. Malofiy nor his clients have been available for comment since the decision came down. But Hertz has a new CEO. Steven Scherr writes, that his "intention is to lead a company that puts the customer first. In resolving these claims, we are holding ourselves to that objective."

Mr. Scherr said this settlement should close out 95-percent of their cases involving wrong rental theft allegations.