Rental car theft

Location: California

Sorry for the long post...


My dad rented a van for one day and returned it on time after hours leaving the keys in the drop box. The rental company guy called him almost a week later inquiring as to the whereabouts of the van. (the contract was for just the one day) My dad told him the van was returned on time, and so the guy reported he would file a police report that it had been stolen. Both the guy and my dad filed a police report and the van was found a few days later and was damaged. The car rental guy is trying to hold my dad responsible for the damages to the van. My dad's insurance company denied the claim based on my dad's statement that he returned the van on time and undamaged, and now the rental company's insurance auditor is trying to get the money directly from my dad and is "demanding payment" for the "debt" and threatening to send it to collections. My dad has 30 days to dispute the "debt" and plans to do so. What happens then?

The van was stolen and damaged AFTER my dad returned it, yet they are trying to hold him responsible for it. He does have car insurance and even paid for the additional coverage on the rental van. He wanted his insurance to deny the claim as the theft and damage had nothing to do with him, but now they are taking it further and his credit may be affected. Can they do this? He has a witness (my brother) that he returned the van on time. Any advice would be much appreciated. This has been going on for 3-4 months. Is it time for an attorney?

Yes. You should have contacted an attorney sooner though.

Thanks, we plan to contact an attorney. At what point do you think an attorney should have been contacted? We tried to follow all the proper steps to resolve this issue. Any other comments or advice would be appreciated in addition to the one response I already received.

You should always contact a lawyer as soon as you believe there may be any legal action involved, aka the first time the company made any hint that they were going to try and collect money from you.

And I would be very surprised if he could be held liable for the van if he returned it exactly as he was instructed to do, becuase it should be that the contract you had with the company terminated at that point, but a lawyer looking over the rental contracat could provide much much better advice. I suppose it is possible that the van must be there at the start of the buisness day and that you are taking the risk on yourself by dropping it off like that.

To those that replied to my post, thanks for the input! My dad has contacted an attorney and the family is less "stressed out." Hopefully once the attorney writes them a letter disputing the "debt" the company will drop the issue.....If not, then at least we already have an attorney involved.