Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Nevada District Court Dismisses RICO And Class Action Suit Alleging Wrongful Towing Of Vehicles Parked On A Las Vegas Strip Property

No parking signMike Mills of Mills & Associates recently prevailed on a Motion to Dismiss a Class Action and RICO Complaint against his tow truck company client.

Seven Plaintiffs joined together to allege that each of their cars had been wrongfully towed from a property located on the Las Vegas Strip.  The Plaintiffs argued that there was a conspiracy between the property owners and the tow truck companies to unlawfully tow the cars and thereby enrich themselves.  Plaintiffs said that so many cars had been wrongfully towed that the court should treat this as a class action suit and invite those other auto owners to join their suit.  Plaintiffs also alleged that the property owners and the tow truck operators acted in violation of Nevada’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, NRS 207.360. 

Mike defended the interests of his tow truck client arguing that the court didn’t have jurisdiction to consider the Plaintiffs’ case.  In Nevada, the District Court’s jurisdiction is limited to cases of a value in excess of $10,000.  In this instance, the Plaintiffs did not allege that their individual tows were over $10,000 each.  Mike argued that the Plaintiffs could not aggregate the value of their individual claims to reach the $10,000 threshold.  To learn more about Nevada’s Court System, click HERE.

Mike also told the court that the principal statutes on which Plaintiffs’ Complaint was premised, NRS 487.037 and NRS 487.038, specifically directed claims like these to the Justice Court.  In Nevada, the Justice Courts deal with cases of a value of $10,000 or less.  In addition, Mike pointed out that Plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies.  NRS 706.4477 allows people who believe that their vehicles have been wrongfully towed to file a complaint with the Nevada Transportation Administration and there try to recover the cost of the tow.  Plaintiffs had not done that here.

The Court agreed to dismiss the entire complaint, including the Class Action and RICO claims.  The Court said that it lacked jurisdiction to handle the cases.

Please contact Mike Mills at Mills & Associates regarding questions related to Nevada Trucking, Nevada Coverage and Nevada Bad Faith suits.  Mike can be reached at 702-240-6060.  And be sure to subscribe to the Nevada Law Blogs.