Company that sold belongings of deployed U.S. Navy sailors reaches settlement

By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A San Diego-area moving and storage company has agreed to pay $170,000 to active duty members of the U.S. Navy whose belongings were auctioned off while they were deployed overseas, the Department of Justice said on Monday. Across Town Movers, its parent company, Horoy Inc, and owner Daniel Homan settled a lawsuit filed in March that accused them of illegally selling off the belongings of 10 Navy service members who the company knew were deployed. The firm used storage liens to justify the auctions, while the service members deployed overseas were unable to respond to local legal processes. The settlement includes $150,000 to a single Navy sailor whose collection of vintage and rare car parts was sold off while the company billed the Navy to continue storing them, according to the Justice Department. Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Ward stored his household belongings, including an extensive collection of vintage car parts, with the company when the Navy deployed him to Japan. According to court documents, the company continued to bill the Navy for storing his collection until December 2012, even though his belongings were sold at auction in June 2011. "While Master Chief Ward was overseas focusing on defending our country, he understandably did not expect the very company paid to safeguard his valuable property to instead auction it off in his absence," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement. Nine other members of the Navy identified during the Justice Department investigation will receive between $200 and $3,000 each for their auctioned belongings, according to court records. The company has also agreed to change its practices. The legal action was taken under the Service Members Protection Act, which has been used in the past to challenge actions involving student, auto and mortgage loans. In February, for example, Santander Consumer USA agreed to pay $9.35 million to service members over the illegal repossession of more than 1,100 autos while borrowers were similarly unable to participate in local legal actions. Those suits resulted in settlements of millions of dollars for thousands of service members. (Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)