«We have never experienced that parents swindle their daughter in this way,» said Hans Eivind Ekaas, manager at Avis Bilutleie in Kristiansand, to TV 2 Nettavisen. «This is a textbook example of how wrong things can turn out if you rent a car for someone else.»

The step father pleaded not guilty, but Krisitansand county court sentenced the mother and the stepfather of the 21-year-old woman to fines and jail for swindling their daughter.

Blacklisted
The story started June 27, 2002, when the mother and stepfather asked if their daughter could lend them her bankcard so that they could rent a car for a weekend.

Allegedly the truth was that the man was blacklisted for an old, unsettled matter. The case to a more serious turn when the parents did not at all took a little trip for the weekend, but took off to Spain.

According to the rent agreement, they had a driving limit of 200 kilometres. When Avis finally got the car back 17 days later, the limit had been exceeded with 7,423 kilometres.

Was not informed about Spain
The court is sure that the daughter had no idea of her parents’ plans. She desperately tried to get a hold of them, and she finally found them in Spain.

They finally came back after they had been threatened of being reported to the police. Back home a bill of NOK 20,000 (USD 2857) awaited them.

«It is a major ethical dilemma for us,» Ekaas said. «We usually warn people against renting for others, but how could she imagine this. We have never experienced that parents swindle their daughter. The daughter cried over her parents, but we had no one else to direct the claim against someone except her since she was listed as renter.»

Refuse to pay
The stepfather refuse to pay the bill, and the daughter reported both him and her mother for swindle. The man finally accepted a payment plan. The police later press charges against him.

Avis Bilutleie warns people against signing for other people’s loans. It is not a good thing to guarantee for a car for NOK 250,000 (USD 35,700), said Ekaas.

«In this case, I’m not so sure,» Ekaas said. «It was her parents, and how would you suspect something like this? I was shocked for several weeks afterwards.»

The 42-year-old stepfather was sentenced to 6 months in jail as a collected punishment for a former sentence, and the 40-year-old mother, who had no prior convictions, was sentenced to 30 days of suspended sentence. In addition, both of them have to pay court costs.