{"id":44780,"date":"2020-09-23T14:44:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T14:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/23\/doj-settlement-reached-for-marine-sergeant-whose-vehicle-was-illegally-auctioned\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:39:14","slug":"doj-settlement-reached-for-marine-sergeant-whose-vehicle-was-illegally-auctioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/2020\/09\/23\/doj-settlement-reached-for-marine-sergeant-whose-vehicle-was-illegally-auctioned\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ: Settlement reached for Marine sergeant whose vehicle was illegally auctioned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than two years after her car was towed and illegally auctioned off while she was deployed to Okinawa, Japan, Marine veteran Jennifer Wilbur can now shop for a new one thanks to a $17,500 settlement obtained through the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Justice Department announced Tuesday in a press release<\/a> that Tampa, Florida, based Target Recovery and Towing must pay the settlement to Wilbur because it failed to obtain a court order legally required for it to auction her 2011 Nissan Versa. Target must also pay a $2,500 fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SCRA explicitly prohibits people or corporations from enforcing a storage lien to dispose of or sell a service member\u2019s stored property \u2014 such as a towed vehicle or the contents of a storage unit \u2014 without a signed order from a judge. This protection covers all active duty service members, reserve component service members on active duty orders of more than 30 days, and veterans who have separated in the last 90 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original complaint<\/a> filed by DOJ in August says that Wilbur, a sergeant at the time, left her car with her sister in Riverview, Florida, just before her deployment to Japan in early 2017. Her Nissan Versa was towed by Target Recovery and Towing on March 23, 2018, and subsequently auctioned on May 18, 2018 to cover towing and storage costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilbur also lost a surfing longboard, clothing and a storage container containing vital personal documents. Wilbur, who had the last name of Ko at the time, separated from the Marine Corps in June, records show.<\/p>\n\n\n\t