A San Diego family is fuming after they bought a car only to have it towed away a month later by someone claiming it was actually theirs.
“This has been draining in so many ways, economically, mentally, and physically, in just so many ways,” said Sonia Ruiz to NBC 7 Responds as we sat down at her kitchen table with several documents laid out before her.
She said that on Oct. 30, 2022, she paid $21,000 for a 2022 Toyota Camry from an ad she saw on Facebook Marketplace.
Most Read Stories on NBC 7 San Diego
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
“I personally took the car to the DMV, took my documents, and at the DMV I did not have a single problem. They registered the car for me, that day they changed the plates, gave me my stickers, my registration, and two weeks later, I received my title,” said Ruiz.
She and her family had the car for about a month — until they didn’t.
“We were at work and a tow truck came to my home, picked up the car and took it,” Ruiz said, showing the card of the towing company that told her the vehicle belonged to Hertz. She called the police.
“The police requested the paperwork of my car, they checked them, and they told me the car had no stolen vehicle reports,” said Ruiz, handing us the incident report she was given by the investigator.
The investigator's report describes the car as an unreported stolen vehicle. The investigating officer indicated that Hertz could not explain why it was never reported as stolen. So then ...was it?
Where did the car come from?
Let’s go over the paper trail NBC 7 dug up.
A Hertz contract from last July shows the car was rented out through Hertz's licensee in Mexico called Avasa.
It was picked up at the Cross Border Xpress (CBX) and was supposed to be returned at that same location but according to the police report, it never happened.
In August, the car was picked up by Cortes Towing San Diego. They told us they have no records of how the vehicle ended up in their yard nor any other information.
However, we checked a sales receipt that shows Cortes Towing sold the car at an auction on Sept. 26 via Lientek Solutions.
About a month later, it was posted for sale on Facebook Marketplace. This is when Ruiz buys the car.
“This is not my fault. Somebody here made a mistake or is making a mistake so then why is it me paying the consequences?” Sonia asked.
NBC 7 Responds confirmed through DMV records that the car legally belongs to her.
Hertz responds
We also reached out to Hertz who sent us the following statement:
“Hertz is disappointed to learn of this situation. Upon an initial investigation, we have learned that Avasa, Hertz's licensee in Mexico, and the original owner/operator of the vehicle, did not receive notifications from the towing company about the sales transaction. Avasa has informed us that at the time of repossession, they believed that they were the rightful owner of the car. Avasa is working to resolve this situation in accordance with the Hertz brand standard and we will continue to work with them to support a positive outcome.”
However, Lientek Solutions, the company that auctioned off the car, told NBC 7 Responds that they did notify Avasa as required by state law that the car was going up for auction.
Ruiz said she’s ready to let the evidence do the talking.
“I am the rightful owner, let them show me what they have. All they gave me was a registration that expired on January eighth of this year. The title [I have] is from Sacramento, where it counts, the car is legally under my name,” Ruiz said, adding that a DMV investigator confirmed to her that she was the rightful owner.
But, when NBC 7 Responds met up with her at the DMV to pick up a copy of the final report from the investigation, she instead received a letter indicating they determined her case to be a civil matter.
“It’s disappointing. If this report stated that the car is mine, I could've done a whole lot more with it,” Sonia said after she left the DMV. None of the investigators were willing to talk to us about the case.
“I’ll have to pay a lawyer and go to court and wait longer to recover my property,” she said as she put her documents in a folder and walked away from the DMV.
NBC 7 Responds reached out a few more times to Hertz after Ruiz told us the DMV determined her to be the rightful owner according to their record. They have not responded.
