تقدم شركة Honda المالية دعوى قضائية ضد مدينة نيوارك: مصادرة المركبة وبيعها بالمزاد دون إشعار

Honda Auto Finance, through its subsidiary — the Honda Leasing Trust Fund — has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Jersey, accusing the city of Newark and its towing contractor, Dente Brothers, of carrying out a forfeiture, storage, and sale of a 2025 Acura Integra registered to Honda , without due process, which constitutes a gross violation of Honda’s rights as a legally secured creditor in the financial asset.

According to the lawsuit filed on June 18, the incident occurred in May 2025. Newark police, citing a traffic violation, ordered Dente Brothers to impound a 2025 Integra vehicle leased by an Acura dealer and financed by Honda Finance. Since the vehicle's registration was directly in Honda's name, the company legally held full ownership and the associated warranty rights.

The lawsuit emphasized that Honda was not involved in the daily use of the vehicle and was unaware of the police seizure; the police did not present a search warrant or any official judicial authorization during the operation. It was only the following month that Honda received official notification that the vehicle had been towed and impounded, at which point Dente refused to return the vehicle unless Honda paid $1,461 in towing and storage fees.

After Honda refused to pay, the city of Newark publicly auctioned the vehicle, with the proceeds going entirely to the city and Dente, leaving Honda with no compensation. The lawsuit alleges that the entire process occurred without a prior hearing or any subsequent remedial mechanism, and that Honda received no formal notice of the auction or an opportunity to defend itself.

The lawsuit accuses the city of Newark of following a long-standing "outdated and unconstitutional" operating model: handing control of impounded vehicles directly to the winning towing company, effectively granting it the power to dispose of and profit from them. This arrangement allows the city to avoid the overhead costs associated with storing and transporting the vehicles, but shifts the legal risks and property losses to financial institutions and other bona fide secured creditors.

The lawsuit cited several court rulings in support of its claims: In September 2024, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that a similar vehicle repossession policy in Butler, New Jersey, violated the right of due process enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and in March 2025, the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York also ruled that the vehicle repossession procedures in New York City deprived a secured creditor of their right of due process, a lawsuit brought by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.

In the lawsuit, Honda Leasing Trust asked the court to order the city to pay actual damages and disciplinary penalties, and to issue an injunction declaring Newark's current policy of seizing and auctioning vehicles unconstitutional. Notably, the lessee was not listed as a party to the lawsuit.