Car owners can breathe a collective sigh of relief this week
knowing that former Hollister tow truck operator Paul Greer has
been legally handcuffed by a judge’s ruling that he is a
”
vexatious litigant.
”
Car owners can breathe a collective sigh of relief this week knowing that former Hollister tow truck operator Paul Greer has been legally handcuffed by a judge’s ruling that he is a “vexatious litigant.”
We wish this day had come sooner. Greer operated in San Benito County for far too long in a shadowy area of the legal system.
The judge’s ruling means that Greer and his now-defunct B&C Towing, which used to operate in the Hollister-Gilroy region, can no longer file a lawsuit in California unless a court first reviews and approves the case.
Greer preyed on some of San Benito County’s most vulnerable residents with lawsuits seeking thousands of dollars in storage fees for cars his towing company moved years ago. Often, the person he sued no longer owned the car in question.
On Monday, a San Martin judge put an end to Greer’s litigious spree that included filing more than 363 small claims suits in San Benito and Santa Clara counties. Many of these suits were directed at poor people who couldn’t speak English and had little chance of defending themselves.
In her 12-page ruling, Judge Teresa Guerrero-Daley wrote that “B&C repeatedly filed unmeritorious motions, pleadings or other papers and engaged in other tactics that are frivolous, including, but not limited to, the prosecution of small claims actions against defendants B&C knew or should have known were not liable for the claims asserted against them.”
One case in particular highlights Greer’s method of operation. Maria Vallejo, a local cannery worker, sold a van to a friend in 2005. Shortly after buying the car, the new owner was arrested for driving under the influence and the car was towed by B&C Towing.
After the car racked up $2,500 in storage fees, Greer filed a lien against Vallejo’s car. When she didn’t come to collect the car, he sued her in San Benito County Small Claims Court. She never showed up in court and Greer won a default judgment against her.
Vallejo, who speaks little English, then entered into a contract with Greer to pay off the storage fees on the car she had already sold. After making payments for several months, Vallejo discovered that Greer’s Hollister office had closed and she could no longer make payments. Eventually, after months of frustration and anxiety, her daughter drove to Greer’s Clovis office and settled the suit for $2,500.
Greer’s small claims lawsuits didn’t hurt only unsuspecting car owners. His legal work tied up San Benito County’s civil court schedule and forced court staff to spend untold numbers of hours processing his questionable legal filings.
In the future we hope our court officials, prosecutors and others will be more alert and shut down frivolous lawsuits before they hurt so many innocent people. Instead of facilitating such schemes, we would hope that the courts would protect people from this kind of thing.
