A South Florida woman who reported her Mercedes stolen more than three decades ago was surprised to find a tow company’s lien on her vehicle tag when she went to renew her registration. Jan Schill said the car, a 1992 Mercedes 300 Diesel she had owned for only two years, was taken from her driveway and never recovered.
Schill filed a claim with her insurance company and turned over the title after it paid her for the car. In 2025, the Sheriff’s Office told her the vehicle had been pulled from the bottom of a canal. Months later, when she tried to renew her tags, she learned the company that towed it had placed a lien on her.
Schill took the problem to Help Me Howard. Howard Finkelstein said the insurer, not Schill, was responsible for the tow bill because it had declared the car a total loss and paid her for it, which made the company the owner.
After 7News contacted the insurance company, it thanked the station for the alert and sent a check to the tow company that week. The tow company then lifted the lien. Schill renewed her tags within 24 hours of the contact.
Finkelstein said drivers whose cars are totaled should ask their insurer for proof that it notified the state’s motor vehicle agency of the change in ownership.
