Friendswood residents sue storage company to recover possessions

GALVESTON - Friendswood residents Marlei Ebert Walton and Douglas Ebert claim Moore & Son Moving Co. has refused to give their possessions back, recent court papers say.

A lawsuit filed April 4 in Galveston County District Court also shows the business neglected to pay the plaintiffs for damages to some of their belongings.

The complainants hired Moore & Son following Hurricane Ike's September 2008 landfall to move their things from their storm-damaged residence to a nearby rental house.

Because of the size of the rental home, some materials needed to be placed in a storage facility of which the defendant apparently represented was able to properly provide.

Both parties entered into an agreement, and the respondent took a number of the complainants' possessions to such facility near its offices in Pearland.

According to the suit, Moore & Son damaged several items during the move including a piano and a washing machine.

Efforts to recover the damages ensued only to result in the plaintiffs receiving an "insulting" settlement, the suit says.

Though the complainants returned to their residence after it underwent repairs, they had been paying the defendant rent as well as requesting it for reimbursement and the return of their items to no avail.

"If this were a 'self-storage' type of scenario, the plaintiffs would have removed their belongings months ago, or perhaps earlier," the suit says.

Consequently, they seek at least $1,000 in damages.

Attorney David Torok of Sixta & Associates PC in Friendswood is representing the complainants, and Galveston County 212th District Court Judge Susan Criss is presiding over the case.

Case No. 13-CV-504