Moving Company Fined

A San Diego-based moving company agreed May 18 to pay $170,000 to Navy service members as compensation for illegally auctioning off their property. According to a Justice Department announcement, Across Town Movers violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act when the company sold service members’ storage lots without obtaining court orders first. The company also continued to charge storage fees to those service members, even as it sold off their personal property, the Justice Department said. One former sailor who took part in the lawsuit, retired Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas E. Ward, stands to receive $150,000 in compensation. Records show that Ward stored expensive parts to a vintage automobile with Across Town Movers while he was deployed. The company sold off the parts, plus some of Ward’s household goods – while collecting storage fees from him. The settlement also requires the company to make systematic changes in the way it does business, to ensure it complies with the law.