Property Battle Continues Between NJ Tow Company, Family After Moving Truck Crash

CARTERET, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Ask anyone and they'll tell you moving can be stressful, but for at least two local families it's been a downright nightmare.

They haven't seen their property since they packed it up in early June. After their moving truck crashed in Newark, all their stuff has been sitting in storage and it's not clear when they'll get it back.

After nearly two months of living in an empty home in Arizona, David Rosmarin says B&L Towing Company in Carteret New Jersey has been holding their belongings hostage. But now, Rosmarin says he's seeing progress.

"I'm feeling optimistic," he said. "The best point will be when I see stuff on the truck and I see that truck heading out west to us here in Arizona."

Their moving truck, owned by Experienced Transport, was carrying their property and that of two other families crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike killing two people. B&L towed the truck, and stored everything in Carteret. Rosmarin says he questioned the moving company about where his stuff was for weeks, but the movers never told him about the accident until a month later.

Rosmarin says in early July, he attempted to get his property from B&L but he claims the company wanted someone to pay for rescuing and storing it because the movers weren't footing the bill.

"As of July 16th they wanted $44,100," David said. "They also said that an amount of $10,000 would maybe possibly sway them into releasing our goods to us."

B&L owner Sean Cody was meeting with his lawyer on Monday and declined to speak with CBS2 on camera. He said over the phone that the families' property is safe in storage and that he didn't recall telling the Rosmarins he would release their property if they paid him $10,000.

CBS2 reached out to the moving company to see why its insurance wasn't paying and were told they were disputing the costs. Later, the towing company's attorney emailed back to say it had no knowledge of who "owned" the property on the truck until a few days ago. Now, the attorney claims "B&L is still waiting for Mr. Rosmarin and his attorney to come to the property, identify his items and properly document ownership. When he does, they will be released without any other issues."

The NJ Turnpike has jurisdiction over what tow companies can charge. Since it's happened before, CBS2 asked Turnpike officials what the rules are and how consumers can be protected. They hadn't replied by late Monday.

As for the Rosmarins, they were busy making arrangements to get to the tow lot to pick up their property.