Goines Towing SCRA Case: Default Judgments Near Camp Lejeune

What happened

On March 3, 2023 the United States sued Billy Joe Goines, who does business as Goines Towing & Recovery, in the Southern Division of the Eastern District of North Carolina. The complaint describes a towing and repossession business in Jacksonville, Onslow County, about 13 miles from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, a 246-square-mile installation with almost 40,000 active duty members, in a city where over one third of residents are active duty (complaint paragraphs 7 to 10). The complaint charged only Section 3931. DOJ's December 26, 2023 release called it the first lawsuit the United States had brought against a towing company under the SCRA's military affidavit provision.

The lead account is a Marine corporal stationed in Okinawa, Japan from about February 14, 2021 to December 2021. Before deploying he bought a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser from another Marine with a $13,000 Navy Federal Credit Union loan, registered it under a Camp Lejeune address and his mother's address in Alabama, and parked it at a friend's apartment complex in Jacksonville. It carried a Marines decal, photographs of him and others in uniform, and about 16 military patches Velcroed to the ceiling, one listing his name, unit at Camp Lejeune, military identification number and blood type. Goines towed it in about February 2021 and claimed a $5,880 lien. When he called to say he was an active duty Marine deployed to Japan, he was told to pay a cash fee or the vehicle would be sold (complaint paragraphs 11 to 19).

On or around October 26, 2021 Goines filed a civil action in Onslow County Superior Court to sell the vehicle, with a declaration by Goines's agent, dated October 12, stating she was unable to determine whether he was in military service and could not search the Defense Manpower Data Center without his Social Security number. The court issued a default judgment allowing the sale on or around the same day. On or around December 1 he learned it had been sold two days earlier; an invoice Goines prepared listed the price as $4,500. The complaint says Goines never contacted him, his mother, either registration address, Camp Lejeune or the lender to ask about his service (paragraphs 20 to 28).

The complaint gives three more examples from the period since at least February 28, 2017: a 2001 Ford F250 towed from outside barracks at Marine Corps Air Station New River, its owner's address on the affidavit given as MCAS New River, auctioned in September 2020 when it was worth up to $14,500 and held about $1,400 in tools; a 1995 Chevrolet Silverado towed from a Camp Lejeune barracks lot with a Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform inside; and a 1999 Honda Civic towed from Camp Lejeune whose owner's address was a post office box on the base (paragraphs 29 to 32). The judge signed the consent order on January 29, 2024 and it was filed on February 1, 2024.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3931

Protection of servicemembers against default judgments: read the statute , or read § 3931 in plain English, with its enforcement record .

Under federal law towing companies are required to file accurate military affidavits after making a good faith effort to determine whether vehicle owners are in military service.

Debt collectors and towing companies shouldn’t be allowed to take and sell their property behind their backs.

Who was covered

Seven identified servicemembers whose vehicles Goines no longer had, and an eighth whose 2005 Ford Mustang was still on its lot (paragraphs 11 and 12 of the consent order). It also refers to 29 additional servicemembers the United States identified who had default judgments entered against them, allegedly in violation of the SCRA, authorizing Goines to sell or dispose of their vehicles; seven of those vehicles were still on the storage lot (paragraph 18). The order resolves only claims the United States could bring under Section 3931 (paragraph 26).

What the settlement paid

• For each of the seven: the average of the vehicle's estimated trade-in value on the date of disposal and the price Goines obtained for it, plus $500, with $35,305.06 for the seven due to Goines's counsel within seven days of entry (consent order paragraph 11).
• For the eighth: the Mustang back, for him or his spouse to collect from the lot within 30 days after Goines was notified that the United States had his release, plus $1,500 (paragraph 12). Funds for all eight could not exceed $36,805.06, and money for anyone who did not sign a release within 60 days of entry was to go back to Goines (paragraphs 13, 15 and 17). DOJ's release and case page describe $66,805.06 in relief for servicemembers; the order caps the servicemembers' funds at $36,805.06 and sets the $30,000 civil penalty out separately (paragraph 20).
• Fee waivers: all towing, storage and other fees for the eight, waived forever, and for the 29 any remaining fees not offset by the sale of their vehicles. Owners of the seven vehicles still on the lot had 30 days to retrieve them before storage fees could run again (paragraphs 11, 12 and 18). Goines agreed the damages cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and declared under penalty of perjury that he has the financial capacity to meet all of his obligations under the order (paragraphs 19 and 24).
• A $30,000 civil penalty within ten days, which the order says is not an acknowledgment of liability (paragraph 20). Annual SCRA training by a qualified trainer unconnected to Goines, which the United States agreed to provide at no cost, and a three-year term from entry, which runs into 2027 (paragraphs 9 and 33).

Why this case matters

Saying you cannot tell is not a safe harbor. Section 3931(b)(1)(B) lets a plaintiff state that it is unable to determine whether a defendant is serving, but the complaint alleges Goines made that statement without reasonable due diligence or a good faith effort, about a vehicle carrying military patches whose owner had called to say he was deployed. The order makes Goines start with the VIN at the North Carolina DMV, pull the owner's Social Security number, or failing that a birth date, from a commercial public records database, search the DMDC, and, when that search cannot be run, ask whoever requested the tow for any ownership information it will share and inspect the vehicle for military decals or plates, a military registration address or, where it can get inside, contents showing service (consent order paragraph 6). If a car you left near an installation was sold under a default judgment, the military affidavit in that court file is the first document to pull.