01/18/06  Red-Light Cameras Impact on Car Rental Companies

We car rental companies always get the short end of the deal. 

Most generally, the car rental company can send a copy of the rental agreement and that takes care of our problem. 

If the registered owner of the vehicle is held responsible for the ticket, that could be problematic for us.  For example, the City of Houston holds the rental company, not the customer responsible for all parking tickets and fines.  By the time we find out about it, there are penalties and interest that exceed the original rental charge. 

If we try to put the charges on the customer's credit card, all the customer has to do is dispute the charge and we loose.  We average about a 30% recovery for the Houston mess.

The toll roads are even worse for us.  We went into litigation with Harris County earlier this year because they refused to take the rental agreements.  North Texas Toll Authority has been very reasonable to work with.

Since the rental companies have no voice, I look for us to be taken advantage of in the next legislative session, meaning we will probably be responsible for all fines, tolls, etc.

So, yes, we would be against the red light cameras.  But, since when does what we think matter?

Dave Capps