City of El Paso SCRA Case: Impound Lot Auctions, at Least 176 Vehicles

What happened

On February 2, 2023 the United States sued the City of El Paso and the two companies it had hired, one after the other, to run storage and auctions at the police department's vehicle storage facility on Railroad Drive. Rod Robertson Enterprises, Inc. (RRE), a Texas corporation based in San Antonio, held that contract from December 27, 2011 to at least April 15, 2019. United Road Towing, Inc., which does business as UR Vehicle Management Solutions (URT), a Delaware corporation based in Illinois, took over on May 20, 2019. The complaint notes that El Paso is home to Fort Bliss, the second largest Army post in the country, and that each contractor was paid a percentage of fee revenue and of auction proceeds (complaint paragraphs 6 to 22).

The lead example is an Army officer who deployed from Fort Bliss to Afghanistan on January 24, 2019. The 2016 Chevrolet Silverado she co-owned was impounded after an accident in June 2019, and on or about September 10, 2019 URT auctioned it for $6,200 without a court order while she still owed approximately $13,000 on the loan. She learned of the sale on or about October 7, 2019, still deployed, and DOJ received an Army attorney's referral on October 10, 2019 (paragraphs 27 to 35).

The complaint counts at least 176 vehicles registered to protected owners and auctioned without court orders between January 1, 2015 and February 11, 2020: 143 by RRE through April 15, 2019 and 33 by URT from May 20, 2019 (paragraph 36). It alleges the City had no written SCRA policies for its auctions and RRE had none either, while URT had a written policy promising to identify active duty owners but did not carry it out (paragraphs 23 to 25).

Proposed orders resolving the claims against all three defendants were filed in 2024, and DOJ announced settlements on August 1, 2024, subject to court approval. The copies on DOJ's case page leave the judge's signature line blank. The case page reports the resolutions as three separate settlement agreements, and each agreement calls for a joint stipulation of dismissal: URT's signed June 30, 2025, the City's dated August 26, 2025, and RRE's signed for the United States on October 30, 2025. The City denies liability, and RRE denies the allegations (City agreement paragraph 22; RRE agreement paragraph 4). All three agreements date the complaint February 20, 2023; its file stamp, DOJ's release and the case page say February 2.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3958

Enforcement of storage liens: read the statute , or read § 3958 in plain English, with its enforcement record .

Members of our armed forces should not have to worry about their cars being auctioned off while they are on the front lines defending our freedoms, liberties and rights.

My office is committed to safeguarding the rights of servicemembers who call the Western District of Texas home.

Who was covered

Two separate pools, one per contractor. URT's fund is for servicemembers the United States determines URT may have harmed; the United States had identified 50 potentially aggrieved servicemembers whose vehicles URT auctioned, sold or otherwise disposed of under the City contract between May 20, 2019 and June 11, 2023 (URT agreement paragraphs 16 and 18). RRE's fund is for people the United States finds RRE may have harmed; the City's 2024 proposed order described them as 122 protected servicemembers whose vehicles RRE disposed of between January 1, 2015 and April 15, 2019 (paragraph 10 of that proposed order). The City's agreement pays no one directly and releases the City for auctions at the facility through its approval date (City agreement paragraph 20).

What the settlement paid

• United Road Towing, signed June 30, 2025: $57,935 into an interest-bearing escrow account within ten business days, notices to all 50 within 30 days after a National Change of Address search, a final list from the United States within 240 days, and checks capped at the fund, with any remainder paid to the Treasury when the five-year agreement expires (URT agreement paragraphs 16 to 24 and 41). A $24,980 civil penalty within 90 days (paragraph 27). DOJ's August 2024 release printed the fund as $57,395; the proposed URT order and the 2025 agreement both say $57,935.
• City of El Paso, dated August 26, 2025: no fund. The City must cause a $20,000 civil penalty to be paid within 90 days, and the agreement records that RRE has agreed to pay that amount under the indemnification provisions of its City contract (City agreement paragraph 16). The City keeps its claims against both contractors for defense and indemnification (paragraph 23), and the agreement lasts two years (paragraph 29).
• Rod Robertson Enterprises, signed for the United States October 30, 2025: a $140,000 escrow deposit, interest-bearing, due 14 business days after the effective date, with RRE's total obligation to servicemembers capped at that sum plus accrued interest, and its own $20,000 civil penalty within 90 days (RRE agreement paragraphs 8, 14 and 18). RRE represented that it has had no City contract since 2019 and has ceased vehicle storage and auction work entirely; if it reenters, it must give 60 days' notice and win the United States' non-objection to SCRA policies before enforcing any storage lien (paragraphs 19 and 20). Its agreement runs three years (paragraph 33).

Why this case matters

A city cannot hand its impound lot to a contractor and leave the SCRA with it. El Paso's police impounded these vehicles, its contractors sold them, and all three were sued. The City's settlement now requires every contractor to confirm in writing, vehicle by vehicle, that it met the SCRA's research and contact requirements, bars any vehicle without that confirmation from going to auction, and has the Property and Evidence Supervisor audit all vehicles monthly before they are sold (City agreement paragraph 10). In its 2024 proposed order the City also represented that it halted all auctions of impounded vehicles once it learned of DOJ's investigation.