Rental Car Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit Lawyers

Our rental car wrongful arrest lawyers represent clients who were wrongfully detained or arrested due to misinformation provided to police by rental car agencies. In recent years, many completely innocent people have been wrongfully jailed after lawfully renting a car.

Victims of rental car wrongful arrests do have the legal right to pursue compensation. The award-winning lawyers at The Buckfire Law Firm can help if you or someone you care about was imprisoned or harmed due to the negligence of a rental car company.

• Can I Sue a Rental Company if I was Falsely Arrested?
• Top Reasons for Rental Car Wrongful Arrests
• What is the Compensation in a Rental Car Lawsuit?
• Contact a Rental Car Wrongful Arrest Lawyer

What is a Rental Car Wrongful Arrest?

An alarming number of rental car customers across the United States have found themselves facing felony charges because a rental company falsely reported their vehicle as stolen. Surprisingly, this is not a rare occurrence or a simple misunderstanding. It represents a systemic failure in how some of the largest car rental companies in the country manage their vehicle inventories and communicate with law enforcement agencies.

Wrongful arrest is a distressing reality that has affected many rental car customers and occurs when companies mistakenly report their vehicles as stolen. In these situations, innocent people who have lawfully rented a car can suddenly find themselves accused of stealing rental cars, pulled over by police, and even arrested at gunpoint. For unsuspecting customers, the ordeal can unfold long after returning after their rental, turning a routine experience into a traumatic event.

What Causes These Wrongful Rental Car Arrests?

The root of these wrongful arrests often lies in the rental car companies’ internal failures. Flaws in computer systems can cause rental extensions or vehicle returns to go unrecorded. When these errors occur, the company may file a false report with law enforcement agencies, claiming the car is a stolen vehicle. Law enforcement, relying on the information provided, may then arrest innocent renters who have done nothing wrong.

Can I Sue a Rental Company if I was Falsely Arrested?

Yes, you can sue a rental car company if you were falsely detained or arrested due to wrong information provided to the police. Rental car companies have a duty to ensure their systems are accurate and that any reports of stolen cars are thoroughly investigated before involving law enforcement. Unfortunately, as numerous claims and lawsuits have shown, companies sometimes fail to meet this responsibility.

Instead of promptly addressing errors, they have allowed innocent customers to be wrongfully arrested and jailed, with some spending weeks behind bars before being exonerated. In response, many victims have taken legal action, filing lawsuits against rental car companies for their role in these wrongful arrests. These claims often allege that the companies relied on flawed systems and failed to properly investigate before filing false criminal charges. One high-profile case involved a customer who was falsely accused of stealing a rental car and spent over a month in jail before he could prove his innocence and be freed from police custody.

Largest Rental Car Companies in the United States

The ten largest car rentals in the United States in 2025 were:

• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Hertz
• Avis Car Rental
• Budget
• Budget Truck Rental
• National Car Rental
• Thrifty Car Rental
• Alamo Rent A Car
• Dollar Rent A Car
• Rent a Wreck

Many cars are rented at airports or off-site offices in suburbs or in more remote locations.

Top Reasons for Rental Car Wrongful Arrests

While every case is unique, most rental-related wrongful arrests fall into a few recurring patterns. Understanding which scenario applies to your situation can help you and your attorney build the strongest possible case.

Scenario 1: Contract Extension Not Recorded

You call the rental company to extend your rental period. The representative confirms the extension and takes your payment. But the company’s system never records the change. Days or weeks later, the vehicle appears overdue, and the company files a police report claiming the car was stolen. When you are pulled over by police officers during a routine traffic stop, you learn for the first time that you are a suspect in a felony theft.

Scenario 2: Vehicle Return Never Logged

You return the rental car on time, park it in the designated area, and drop the keys as instructed. But due to mishandling at the lot or counter, your return is never logged. The vehicle sits in the lot while the system shows it as unreturned. Eventually, it is reported stolen. You may be arrested at home, at work, or during another traffic stop—weeks after you handed back the keys.

Scenario 3: Re-Rented Vehicle Already Reported Stolen

A prior renter or the company itself has already reported the vehicle stolen. But instead of removing the car from service and clearing it from law enforcement databases, the company puts it back into circulation. You rent the vehicle with no knowledge of its history. When police run the license plate, they see an active stolen vehicle report and treat you as the thief.

Scenario 4: Wrong Vehicle Reported to Police

Internal mismatches between contract numbers, VINs, and license plates cause the wrong car to be reported stolen. Police are looking for a different make or model than the one you rented. This administrative chaos can result in you being arrested for stealing a car you never even saw.

In all of these scenarios, law enforcement typically relies heavily on the rental company’s report. Officers often approach these stops as high-risk felony situations—with guns drawn, passengers ordered out at gunpoint, and drivers handcuffed on the roadside—because they believe they are confronting someone accused of stealing rental cars.

Legal Theories in a Rental Car Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit

The exact legal claims in a rental car wrongful arrest lawsuit will vary depending on your state’s laws and the specific facts of your case. However, several recurring causes of action have been alleged against rental companies in lawsuits across the country.

Negligence

Most wrongful arrest cases against rental companies include negligence claims. These allege that the company failed to maintain accurate records, implement reasonable procedures for tracking rentals and returns, and train employees to verify information before filing false reports with law enforcement. The argument is straightforward: a reasonable rental company would have systems in place to prevent these errors, and the failure to maintain such systems caused harm.

Negligent Misrepresentation

When a rental company tells police that a vehicle is stolen, it is making a factual statement. If that statement is false because the company failed to check its own records, plaintiffs may claim negligent misrepresentation. This is particularly relevant when Hertz reported vehicles as stolen without any knowledge as to whether they were stolen.

Abuse of Process and Malicious Prosecution

In some cases, the facts support claims that the company misused the legal process. If a rental company filed or maintained a police report knowing it was false or refused to correct false criminal charges after discovering an error, plaintiffs may allege abuse of process.

What is the Compensation in a Rental Car Lawsuit?

You can claim economic damages and non-economic damages in your rental car lawsuit.

Economic Damages

Economic damages are the measurable financial losses you suffered as a direct result of the wrongful arrest. Common examples include lost wages from missed work or job termination, travel disruptions and rebooking costs, towing and impound fees paid to retrieve a vehicle you legally rented, bond or bail payments, and the cost of hiring a criminal defense attorney to fight charges you never should have faced.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages may include compensation for emotional distress, mental anguish, humiliation from being arrested or stopped at gunpoint in public, anxiety, sleep problems, and long-term psychological conditions like PTSD. Victims have reported panic attacks, difficulty trusting others, and permanent damage to their sense of safety.

Punitive Damages

Some states allow punitive damages in these lawsuits. Where the evidence supports it, courts or juries may award punitive damages intended to punish especially reckless or outrageous conduct.

How Much are Rental Car Wrongful Arrest Settlements?

The amount of a settlement varies from case to case and is determined by several factors, which include the degree of negligence of the company, the way you were arrested, the length of time you were detained or jailed, and the impact the arrest had on your life.

There is no settlement calculator to determine the compensation in your case. Our experienced attorneys regularly win top settlements in personal injury cases and can do the same for you.

Contact a Rental Car Wrongful Arrest Lawyer Now

If you or a loved one has been falsely arrested or detained because a rental company reported a vehicle as stolen when it was not, you have legal options. The victims in these cases—people who were driving paid-for rental cars, doing nothing wrong—have fought back and won significant compensation for what they endured.

Do not wait to explore your rights. Evidence disappears, memories fade, and filing deadlines can bar claims that are not brought in time. Contact an attorney experienced in rental car wrongful arrest cases to discuss what happened to you and learn what steps you can take to seek justice.

The Buckfire Law Firm will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This is a contingent fee agreement which promises you will not pay a penny unless you win a settlement. If your case is unsuccessful for any reason, you owe us nothing. And it costs nothing to start your claim.

Legally reviewed by:

Lawrence J. Buckfire, J.D., Lead Trial Attorney at Buckfire Law
Lawrence J. Buckfire, J.D. has over 30 years of experience specializing in personal injury and wrongful death cases. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and attended Wayne State University School of Law. Lawrence has been named a Super Lawyer, U.S. News Best Lawyer, and in The National Trial Lawyers-Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Date of Review: Feb., 2026