Hertz CEO Admits False Arrests Over Rented Cars Have Happened

Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr acknowledged that the company’s actions had led to several fake customers being arrested for stealing rental cars. His admission came after 230 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the company for falsely accusing them of theft.

Scherr admits not only what happened, but he also explains how:

“What happened here was that we had a car that was stolen, or allegedly stolen. We filed a police report, when the car was found, the report was cancelled. And, unfortunately, under certain circumstances, when the car came out again, it wasn’t actually canceled, and the customer is accused.”

The false arrest claims of unstolen rental cars date back to 2014, with reports of this happening to people as recently as this year. In a Bloomberg TV interview, reported by CBS, Scherr also said that the company would “do the right thing” for its customers. He didn’t go into specifics, but he said he had confidence the company would reach some settlement for the innocent customer who now faces legal threats.

Hertz originally claimed that the attorneys who filed the lawsuit had a “track record of making unsubstantiated claims” that “blame the facts,” or so Hertz said a month ago. Now, Scherr says that the problem isn’t “systemic,” adding that there are now guidelines to prevent this problem from happening again. It really was a turn. He also did not elaborate on the new policy.

Last November, a CBS News report noted two instances in which police stopped two tenants for alleged theft. Someone could prove to the police that Hertz had rented a car to him. Another person was arrested and charged with a crime. Prosecutors dropped the charges when they discovered that the man had paid for the vehicle.

This legal headache for customers is not going to be easy to solve. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, citing the coronavirus pandemic. It is allegedly saddled with billions of debt, and emerged from bankruptcy last October. However, it is likely that it will now face new challenges with this expensive lawsuit.