Court Orders Hertz To Reveal How Many Erroneous Theft Reports It Has Made

Court Orders Hertz To Reveal How Many Erroneous Theft Reports It Has Made

The Hertz saga continues as the rental car agency has been ordered by a Delaware bankruptcy court judge to make data about the number of renters it has accused of stealing its cars public.

The decision follows an investigation into the company’s practices as many people have come forward with stories of being falsely accused of stealing vehicles. The data on theft reports had been filed under seal after Hertz declared bankruptcy in 2020, but CBS News’ legal team filed a formal objection to the attempt to keep the information secret.

The data has not all been released yet but the rental company is already facing 230 claims in bankruptcy court by people who allege that they were falsely arrested for stealing rental vehicles based on incorrect Hertz reports.

Read More: Hundreds Of Customers Sue Hertz For Alleged False Theft Reports, Landing Some In Jail

“Of the more than 25 million rental transactions by Hertz in the United States per year, 0.014% fall into the rare situation where vehicles are reported to the authorities after exhaustive attempts to reach the customer,” Hertz told the outlet in a statement.

Although that’s a very small percentage, it still amounts to roughly 3,500 theft reports per year. The number of those that are erroneous is not yet known, but it should become public soon and several customers have come forward with harrowing tales.

One person, Colorado’s Drew Seaser, told the outlet that he had been accused of stealing a vehicle in Georgia despite never having visited the state. Even more alarmingly, he only found out once customs officers stopped him at the airport on his way to Mexico with his family.

“When they checked my passport, they’re like, Mr. Seaser, are you aware that you have a warrant out for your arrest out of Georgia? At first, I thought they were joking,” he told CBS News. “I was terrified. You know, I’ve never been arrested before and never been in any sort of trouble. I own my own business.”

Seaser had to spend 24 hours in jail before his lawyer could prove that he was in Colorado at the time of the alleged theft. Fortunately, that led prosecutors to dismiss the charges.

Hertz maintains, however, that the “vast majority” of cases involved people who were many weeks or months overdue and stopped communicating with the rental company.

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