4 towing companies sue judges saying lots are overflowing with abandoned cars because of them

Summary

A lawsuit has been filed against Fulton County Magistrate Judges, alleging that their failure to follow state law on abandoned vehicles is overflowing tow companies' lots. Multiple toe companies claim dozens of motions for court orders to sell abandoned vehicles, as required by law within 15 days, have been outstanding for over 200 days. The lawyer filing the suit suggests 388 total motions are outstanding. The Chief Judge claims limited resources have delayed responding to motions, and recent budget cuts will further affect processing time.

Takeaways

• 😡 A lawsuit has been filed against Fon County Magistrate Judges alleging their failure to follow state law regarding abandoned vehicles is overflowing tow lots
• 😱 The manager of Futo Inc, a big Atlanta tow company, says the issue with the Magistrate Court threatens to wreck their business
• 🤔 Georgia law requires the court to rule within 15 days on motions by tow companies to sell abandoned vehicles to recoup fees, but this often has not happened
• 😠 As of January, there were 388 outstanding motions from 4 tow companies with some going back to 2021
• 🧐 Fon County's Chief Magistrate Judge says she was unaware of the 388 motions but encourages the companies to send them
• 😩 The lawyer filing the suit suggests there are still many 2021 and 2022 motions without court orders
• 😕 The Magistrate Court budget was recently cut by $780,000 which could further slow rulings
• 🤨 The lawyer says this is not about profits for the tow companies as any money collected above fees goes to the state
• 😟 Owners have 1 year to claim funds from sold abandoned vehicles
• 😣 The Magistrate Court handles many types of cases with limited resources but still maintains an incredible closure rate over 8 years

Q & A

What is the lawsuit filed against?

The lawsuit is filed against a group of Fon County Magistrate Judges.

What does the lawyer allege?

The lawyer alleges that the judges' failure to follow state law regarding abandoned vehicles has caused the tow companies' lots to overflow.

What does Georgia law require regarding abandoned vehicles?

Georgia law requires tow companies to send notice to owners/lien holders of abandoned vehicles. Then if unclaimed, file motions so vehicles can be sold to recoup fees. The court must rule on motions within 15 days.

How many outstanding motions does the lawyer claim there are?

The lawyer claims there are 388 outstanding motions across 4 tow companies.

What was the oldest outstanding motion filing date claimed?

The oldest claimed outstanding motion was filed in August 2021.

What does Judge Kirk say about the backlog of motions?

Judge Kirk says she is not aware of 388 outstanding motions, but encourages the companies to send them any they have.

What does Judge Kirk say is affecting processing time?

Judge Kirk says recent budget cuts will affect the time judges can spend on abandoned vehicle cases.

What does the lawyer say this lawsuit is not about?

The lawyer says this lawsuit is not about profits for the tow companies.

What happens to money collected above fees?

Any money collected above storage/tow fees goes to the state for 1 year for owners to claim.

What does the video script focus on?

The video script focuses on a lawsuit alleging Fon County Magistrate Judges have a backlog of motions regarding abandoned vehicles.

Outlines

00:00

😡 Lawsuit Filed Against Judges Over Abandoned Cars Overflowing Lots

A lawsuit is filed against Fon County Magistrate Judges by lawyer Will Story on behalf of four tow companies, alleging failure to follow state law regarding motions to sell abandoned vehicles left in overflowing tow lots. The companies claim motions filed over 15 months ago have gone unaddressed, preventing them from freeing up space and recouping fees.

Keywords

💡lawsuit

A lawsuit refers to a civil legal case filed in court by one party against another. In this script, a lawsuit is filed against Fon County Magistrate Judges, alleging that they have failed to follow state laws regarding abandoned vehicles. This relates to the main theme of the video about issues with processing abandoned vehicle cases in Fon County courts.

💡abandoned vehicles

Abandoned vehicles refer to cars and other automobiles left by owners or police on private property without permission. The buildup of unclaimed, abandoned vehicles is the core issue highlighted in the video script. Tow truck companies are unable to dispose of them due to a backlog of motions in Fon County Magistrate Court.

💡motions

In the legal context, motions refer to written requests filed with a court asking for a ruling or order on a legal matter. The script mentions hundreds of unresolved motions filed by tow companies seeking court orders to dispose of abandoned vehicles.

💡tow companies

Tow companies operate tow trucks to move disabled, illegally parked, or otherwise incapacitated vehicles. The script focuses on 4 Atlanta-area tow firms struggling to store and dispose of abandoned vehicles due to court delays.

💡resources

Resources refer to assets available to help complete a task. The Fon County Chief Magistrate Judge claims limited resources have slowed down processing of abandoned vehicle motions over the past 2 years.

💡closure rate

A closure rate measures the percentage of cases resolved out of total received. The Fon County Chief Magistrate Judge argues the court has an incredible closure rate on cases despite limited resources.

💡extraordinary remedy

An extraordinary remedy refers to a legal recourse used only when standard options have failed. Filing a petition for writ of mandamus against the judges is described as an extraordinary step in this situation.

💡lean holders

Lien holders are creditors with a legal claim on a property as security for unpaid debts. The tow firms must notify both owners and any lien holders before disposing abandoned vehicles.

💡recoup fees

To recoup means to regain or recover money spent. The tow firms file motions with the court so they can sell abandoned vehicles and recoup expenses for towing and storing them.

💡fiscal year budget

A fiscal year budget outlines government spending over a 12 month period. The script states recent cuts to the Magistrate Court's fiscal year 2024 budget will impact its processing of abandoned vehicle motions.

Highlights

Lawsuit filed against Fon County Magistrate Judges alleging failure to follow state law on abandoned vehicles

Recer companies say overflowing lots prevent them from towing more vehicles

Lawyer filed petition for writ of mandamus against Fon County Chief Magistrate Judge

Georgia law requires rulings on recer company motions within 15 days, but court often doesn't meet deadline

Recer company has 388 outstanding motions, with some dating back to 2021

Chief Magistrate Judge claims she was unaware of backlog of motions

Budget cuts reduced resources available for processing abandoned vehicle motions

County budget shifted funds from Magistrate to Superior Court

Lawyer says lawsuit not about profits for recer companies

One company has 100 motions pending since September 2022

Another company has 174 motions pending since December 2021

Third company has 57 motions pending since August 2023

Abandoned vehicle backlog built up over years

Budget cuts reduced resources to address backlog

Court claims high case closure rate despite limited resources

Transcripts

a Channel 2 Action News exclusive a

lawsuit filed against a group of Judges

the lawyer for Fort recer companies

alleges their lots are overflowing with

abandoned cars because of a Court's

failure to follow state law we'll knew

what six Fon County's Chief Magistrate

Judge tells Channel 2 investigative

reporter Mark Winnie her judges follow

the

law lot on the other side of that great

fence you added that when uh at the end

of 2022 because because we were

overloaded no no no room to take any

more cars in or move around on our lot

because of this problem because of the

problem do you believe that you and the

other Fon County Magistrate judges have

done anything in connection with

abandoned Motor

Vehicles meriting a lawsuit against you

again I can't speak to the lawsuit but I

would say I I do not Roby hilard tells

us she's manager at Futo Inc a big

Atlanta record company and an issue with

Fon County Magistrate Court is

threatening to wreck their business if

the issue isn't fixed we can't tow when

we don't have any more room to tow and

and we have to have room you know for

the police when they call us to tow to

be fair Miss hellard says most of the

cars on the fos lot aren't part of this

issue but dozens of abandoned vehicles

are lawyer will story says he's filed a

petition for rid of mandamus against Fon

County's Chief Magistrate Judge

Cassandra Kirk and other magistrate

judges he intends to identify as the

case proceeds Georgia law calls a r of

mandamus an extraordinary remedy he says

recer companies send notice to abandoned

vehicle owners and lean holders twice by

certified mail it's roughly a 60-day

process and if no one claims the cars

many of which were towed on police

orders companies file motions with

magistrate court so they can recoup

Towing and storage fees by selling the

cars and by law the court must rule in

15 days but too often is not we're

talking about

388 motions you

filed as of the time of our conversation

that's correct story says the motion in

one case where an order was due in 15

days was filed in 2021 but more than 200

of the Motions go back to 22 are you

aware of

388 outstanding

motions from four Toe Companies so I am

not but I would encourage those Toe

Companies if they exist to send them to

us we have been working with the Toe

Companies um for years do you believe

there are abandoned motor vehicle

motions pending since 2022 I do not

stories petition suggests as of January

11th Futo zinc had not received an order

on 57 motions pending for more than 15

days with the most outstanding motion

filed on March 7 2022 the story says in

one case a hearing was held January 8

the petition suggests that as of January

9th ATO Atlanta LLC had not received an

order on 100 motions with the most

outstanding motion filed in September

2022 that as of January 22nd Southside

Record Service LLC had not received an

order on 174 motions with the most

outstanding filed in December 2021 and

that as of January 25th South Metro

Towing Inc had not received an order on

57 motions the most outstanding motion

filed on August 25 2023 judge Kirk says

Magistrate Court handles many kinds of

cases landlord tenant garnishment small

claims and much more and that data for

roughly eight years shows an incredible

closure rate given limited resources she

says she's had a team of Judges assigned

to the abandoned motor vehicle cases for

years but her budget for fiscal year

20124 has been cut and that will affect

the time those judges can spend on those

cases Fulton County spokesperson says

the budget adopted by the Board of

Commissioners Wednesday reduced the

Magistrate Court budget by

$780,000 and increase the Superior Court

budget by the same amount now lawyer

story says this is not about profits for

the four Toe Companies he says any money

they collect over the storage and toe

fees goes to the state and the owners

have a year to claim it reporting live

Mark Winnie Channel 2 Action News

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