Nearly 150 vehicles that allegedly have gone through the wholesale market are part of a lawsuit filed last week by the Justice Department.

The federal lawsuit is against S & K Towing, which is based in San Clemente, Calif., alleging that the company violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by illegally auctioning vehicles owned by members of the military.

DOJ officials are alleging that from Aug. 28, 2020 through April 15, 2025, S & K illegally sold or disposed of as many as 148 vehicles owned by servicemembers, many of which were towed from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Even though S & K’s contract with Camp Pendleton required it to comply with all applicable federal and state laws, the Justice Department said the company made no effort to comply with the SCRA, which requires tow companies to obtain a court order before selling or disposing of a vehicle owned by an SCRA-protected servicemember.

“Towing companies must respect and abide by the federal laws that protect members of our Armed Forces,” said assistant attorney general Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Servicemembers are often absent for extended periods due to training and deployments and may not know that their vehicle has been towed.

“The SCRA plays an important role in providing these servicemembers with adequate legal protections, including notice and the opportunity to have towing and storage fees adjusted in light of their military service,” Dhillon continued in a news release.

According to the news release, a Military Legal Assistance attorney contacted S & K Towing in May 2024 and explained that the company was violating the SCRA. In response, a manager at S & K Towing told the attorney that, “We do this all the time,” according to the Justice Department.

After this exchange, officials said S & K Towing continued to sell and dispose of vehicles owned by SCRA-protected servicemembers without obtaining court orders. They said some of the vehicles that S & K sold or disposed of were registered to addresses on Camp Pendleton. In other cases, S & K auctioned vehicles even after they were told that the owner was in the military.

“Servicemembers deserve peace of mind in knowing that their legal rights will be protected at home while they are away serving the United States,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli for the Central District of California. “It is unacceptable for a business to sell or dispose of servicemembers’ vehicles without abiding by the laws that protect servicemembers.”