Family forced to park wheelchair van gets results
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles stepped in to issue title and permanent license plate
TAMPA, Florida (FloridaToday.news) — Nearly four months after Stan Smoksky and his wife bought a wheelchair van for their 17-year-old disabled son, it is finally registered in their name.
It took little intervention from Better Call Behnken after the pair were forced to park the van due to an expired time tag.
The couple’s $153 utility bill is stolen, altered and cashed for $4,523.
“The day after you came here, I got a call. I got a call from three people from the DMV, and it was just great, ”said Smochki. “Thank you very much, thank you very much for your help. The whole family appreciates it and we want to thank you very much.”
Their troubles began after they paid over $10,000 for a van from Ocean Motorcars in March.
Florida law requires dealers to register a vehicle in the new owner’s name within 30 days and only allows two temporary tags. So, when the second tag expired on May 25, the family had to park the car.
Smokey says the Largo dealership offered excuses and then cut off communication.
Family’s stolen car returned after being told it was auctioned off
Britten Coball, chief financial officer of Ohana America Auto Group and the now closed Ocean Motorcars and Ohana America Auto Group, sent this statement to Better Call Behnken:
“I am the boss and the responsible party, so in this matter the responsibility stops there. I am always ready to take responsibility for failures. I support such work. Exposure of injustice. It was a case of injustice, albeit unintentional and temporary.”
Smokey says he’s thrilled to finally be able to drive the van knowing it’s legally his.
“This means my son can get out and have more freedom to be able to explore the world,” Smochki said. “Because he has gotten older and bigger, he is becoming more and more difficult to keep. So now we can go to places like parks or malls or other places…maybe even Dave and Busters or whatever just to get him out because he likes to get out.”
