State Reaches Final Settlement with Toms River Towing Company
APK Auto Repair allegedly wrongfully removed vehicles and charged 'exorbitant' rates after Sandy
Yellow crime scene tape surrounds the large lot of automobiles on Lacey Road.
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A final settlement aims to bring relief to the owners of vehicles and watercraft allegedly wrongfully towed from Seaside Heights by a Toms River company following Hurricane Sandy.
The state Division of Consumer Affairs announced Monday that the owners of the about 50 unclaimed vehicles and watercraft in APK Auto Repair and Towing's possession will be given 21 days to claim their items before they are sold by the state for scrap.
The proceeds from those sales will be used to reimburse the vehicle owners who had paid APK to retrieve their property prior to a November agreement, according to a Division of Consumer Affairs news release.
"We did not want these consumers, already victims of Hurricane Sandy, to be victimized again," Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said in a statement. "They did nothing wrong and Division of Consumer Affairs investigators worked diligently to resolve this matter and allow these storm survivors to move forward without this unnecessary burden."
In November, an initial agreement allowed for the return of more than 70 vehicles and watercraft to their registered owners at no charge. But some had already paid APK "significant sums" to reclaim their property before the agreement between APK and the state was reached, the release states.
The Division of Consumer Affairs said that is likely the unclaimed items were left by owners because they were damanged beyond repair and were covered by the owners' insurance.
APK Towing was accused of taking cars from private property in Seaside Heights, as well as price gouging. The company's Route 37 and Coolidge Avenue location was surrounded by crime scene tape and under police guard in November. The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office was among those investigating the claims, and days before the initial Nov. 20 settlement police crime scene tape wrapped an APK lot in Lacey.
Also under the settlement, APK was assessed $15,669 for the state’s investigative costs, a fee that is suspended and will be vacated after one year, but will become payable if APK fails to comply with the settlement terms, officials said.
"We heard from consumers who had to pay hundreds of dollars to get their towed cars out of storage," said Eric T. Kanefsky, acting director of the State Division of Consumer Affairs, in a statement. "We shared their outrage and we’re happy that we could help bring this matter towards a final resolution that gets these individuals their money back."
Consumers who feel they have been cheated or scammed, especially in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, are asked to file a complain with the Division of Consumer Affairs through its website or by calling 800-242-5846 or 973-504-6200, the agency said.
Tina
4:54 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
wow, so a slap on the wrist is all they get for taking my car out of my private parking spot behind my house. lovely. Thank you office of the Ocean County Prosecutors...Thank you for nothing.
Tina
4:56 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
what was the point of filing the complaint? NOTHING. SMH.
Jesse
5:02 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
That's because they only did what they were told
To do !!!! Everyone bitching and like I said for 2 months now you will all see in the end it was not apk you should be mad at but the officials who gave them their orders
Tina
9:15 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Correction, they were told impeding traffic and those in the street. why go on MY property? they didn't take my friends car that was in clear view on a motels property about 500 feet down the street from me. oh thats right they were told to drive down my driveway and drag my car from its parking spot and forcibly drag it out. thats right how idiotic of me.
Freida Flashback
6:57 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Did these Officals tell them how much to charge to?
bassintime
5:31 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
BS... the grease monkey's at APK's garage should be shut down for taking advantage of these people and for making RT37 look like a junk yard!!
Karma's a bitch!!!
bassintime
5:39 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
APK should pay these people back the money they lost NOT the preceeds of the car sales. Thanks Eric T. Kanefsky for nothing!!
Ray Cornwall
5:48 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
Wow, this is disgusting.
john
6:15 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
crazy outcome......let apk off the hook........what a joke.......
Av
6:22 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
APk=scumbag
A Citizen
7:48 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
What about the statement made by the wonderful Ocean County Prosecutor after the storm? All talk, no action.
http://tomsriver.patch.com/articles/ocean-county-prosecutor-vows-aggressive-pursuit-of-looters-scam-contractors
Ken
7:57 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
What a joke, division of consumer affairs and all parties involved with hijacking these people's personal property should be ashamed of themselves and should be held accountable.
PJ Ortley
8:19 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
Shameful! APK should be forced to refund all monies taken unlawfully, to pay all costs for the investigation AND lose thier license to operate in the state of NJ. This favoritism is disgusting!
Bill Storm,
6:47 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Well I guess the story after people started to complain about a Seaside Heights official being on the payroll at APK towing is true. That's why they got off so easy.
doreen
7:47 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
We should all take note of this and personally put this clown out of business by failing to use his services and by making sure that any opportunity we get to tell another person what a crook he is we take. At this point sadly the damage is done..
Tina
9:25 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
i went on 101.5, Shame Shame Shame on Fox 5 and did an article on an online news Forum for the Jersey Shore and look where it got me. What a shame.
WhyOhWhy
9:06 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
I agree with Cosma... why do these people have to wait till APK gets the proceeds
from the scrap? They didn't wait to be paid to give back a car did they ? Make them pay back the money they took from these poor people then they can wait to get the money from scraping the cars.
Tina
9:13 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Its not APK that is selling the cars its the State. the cars are still in the States hands. and I agree, APK should be the ones paying. They are the ones when all of this went down said they would reimburse ppl that were scammed and now like I said earlier are getting a slap on the wrist.
Henry Lubinski
10:51 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Why is it no one has filed a criminal complaint against the company? If they removed your vehicle that is theft. There should be criminal action followed by a civil complaint forcing the tow company to defend the action in court. Once you start costing them money their attitude might change.
Tina
10:57 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
I did. Which is why its NOT over.
Chuck Lada
1:45 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Maybe the fact that they were still towing cars after this was brought to the attention of the Seaside Heights council at the meeting on November 7th, might explain why they were not prosecuted. The fish rots from the head! Ocean County corruption at its finest.
Matt
3:10 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
So, they don't have to pay anything basically. Any money the state makes from the sale should be going to hurricane relief first off. The clowns down at APK (A$$holes Pulling Kars) should be forced to reimburse everyone they screwed out of their own pockets. And their business license should be pulled. Nothing like condoning crooked business practices.
Sandra
9:46 am on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Beachwood named this company as the Towing Company for their township. When asked at a boro meeting about the investigation (and it was all over the newspapers) Officials claimed they were not knowledgable of suspicions of accusations. Maybe they should sign up with the "Patch" so they are up to date with what is going on.
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6:15 am on Sunday, January 20, 2013
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