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New Charges Against Budget Rent-A-Car in a National Class Action Suit

13 October 1997

New Charges Against Budget Rent-A-Car in a National Class Action Suit Filed in Michigan by Charfoos & Christensen

    DETROIT, Oct. 13 -- Budget Rent-A-Car, which was accused of
gouging Detroit and other American City consumers in a National Class Action
lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court by J. Douglas Peters and Ann Mandt
of Detroit's Charfoos & Christensen law firm is also charged with blocking
customers' credit for more than the customer owes.
    The class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of Sandra Daniels, Leander
Chatman, Robert Pearson, and Albert Berk, accuses Budget of setting rental
rates based on the renter's residential zip code.  If you live in Detroit, you
will be charged 4 times as much as someone who lives in Bloomfield Hills.  The
same is true in cities across the nation.  In addition, these city dwellers
have "holds" placed on their credit cards which could equal 3 times as much as
the bill.
    "Budget not only rips off the city consumer by charging unconscionably
high rates, but they also put 'holds' on these consumers' credit cards way in
excess of the rental price," said Ms. Mandt, "imagine what could happen if one
of  these customers had an emergency on the road and had no available credit
because of what Budget did."  "This scheme is nothing more than a way to
discriminate against minorities and defraud consumers," said Mr. Peters.  "It
is unconscionable and we intend to get it stopped."

SOURCE  Charfoos & Christensen, P.C.