Avis Budget Must Face Traffic Fines Class Action, Judge Says

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Avis Budget Rental Car Group LLC will continue to face class action allegations that it improperly passed on traffic fines to its customers.

U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi denied Avis Budget’s motion for dismissal in its entirety. The judge concluded that plaintiff Dawn Valli has adequately stated claims arising out of the company’s way of handling traffic and other fines incurred by its car rental customers.

According to Valli’s allegations, Avis Budget has a policy of immediately paying such traffic fines, then billing the customer for the fine plus a substantial administrative fee.

Avis Budget allegedly pays the fines as a matter of course, without affording the customer a chance to contest them. The company then seeks reimbursement from the customer and charges the customer’s credit card if they do not pay on their own, Valli claims.

Valli’s Avis Budget class action lawsuit has been pending since September 2014. In her most recent amended complaint, Valli alleges she rented a vehicle from Avis Budget in June 2014 to drive from Maryland to New York.

After she completed that rental, the District of Columbia Police Department sent a Notice of Infraction to the defendants, alleging that an officer witnessed Valli’s vehicle being driven at 52 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour speed zone.

Avis Budget then sent Valli a notice of the violation. The notice said the company had paid the $150 fine and demanded Valli pay that amount plus a $30 administrative fee. Avis Budget allegedly told Valli that if she did not pay, the company would charge the amounts to her credit card.

Valli says she attempted to contest the fine with the agency that issued it, but she was told she could not contest it because it had already been paid.

In her Avis Budget class action lawsuit, Valli argues the defendant unlawfully robbed her of the opportunity to contest the fine, an opportunity she would have had if the ticket had been issued directly to her instead of to Avis Budget.

Valli also alleges that under the laws of the District of Columbia, the car’s owner – in this case, Avis Budget – is solely liable for any fines incurred. She says that by failing to properly disclose its policy of paying fines and billing the customer without any adjudication of guilt, Avis Budget is in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

The plaintiff is also raising claims for unjust enrichment, unconscionability, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

Valli seeks to represent a nationwide plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who rented vehicles from the defendants and who during that rental period incurred a fine for a traffic violation.

Valli’s attorney is William J. Pinilis of PinilisHalpern LLP.

The Avis Budget Traffic Fines Class Action Lawsuit is Dawn Valli v. Avis Budget Rental Car Group LLC, et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-06072, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: On July 1, 2019, Avis rental car drivers asked a federal judge to certify a Class of drivers who were allegedly charged undisclosed traffic violation fees and fines.