Antitrust Lawsuit Against The Town Over Car Rental Medallions Dismissed By Judge

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the town of Nantucket over a local bylaw restricting the licensing of rental car agencies.

District Court judge Angel Kelley found that the plaintiffs, the local car rental company Becky’s Broncos, had no reasonable chance of succeeding on the merits of its lawsuit and granted the town’s motion to dismiss. Kelley ruled that Becky’s Broncos claims were not persuasive and that, even if every assumption were made to bolster their lawsuit, it would not succeed.

The case arises from a dispute that began in 2023, when a pair of established car rental agencies, Nantucket Rent-A-Car and Affordable Rentals, filed a complaint against unlicensed companies offering cars for rent on Nantucket without the legally required medallions issued by the town. A 1988 law adopted by Town Meeting and codified as Chapter 58 of Nantucket’s municipal laws caps the number of medallions, which are needed for each rental car, at 700. But some small companies and independent renters using the car rental app Turo have ignored the law in recent years.

The town has not increased the number of available medallions since 1996, and the rental car giant Hertz, which holds over 300 medallions, allegedly routinely leaves around 120 unused. Some believe this could be driving the price of rental cars on Nantucket higher while preventing local businesses from entering the industry.

Following the complaint made by Nantucket Rent-A-Car and Affordable Rentals, the town cracked down on the small companies circumventing the rule, including Becky’s Broncos. Rebecca McCrensky and James Broad, the owners of Becky's Broncos, responded by filing a lawsuit against the town. An initial version of the lawsuit was previously dismissed, at which point Becky’s Broncos amended it and filed again.

“This case is about an anticompetitive, protectionist, and discriminatory Nantucket bylaw amended nearly 30 years ago to protect five local White-male-owned businesses from outside competition - and still does - to the exclusion of James Broad, a first-generation Black American, and his wife, Rebecca McCrensky, and their business, Becky’s Broncos, LLC.," the lawsuit states.

Becky’s Broncos alleged that Chapter 58 violates the commerce clause of the Constitution and antitrust legislation. The federal district court rejected both claims.

Broad and McCrensky declined to comment on Tuesday regarding the judge's dismissal.

“Becky’s alleges no statistics or facts demonstrating that instate applicants are treated more favorably than out-of-state applicants,” Judge Kelley wrote of the commerce clause claims. “Instead, the Amended Complaint suggests that no new license applicants have been successful regardless of their state of origin.”

The commerce clause, particularly what is often referred to as the dormant commerce clause, prevents states from restricting interstate commerce.

Kelley pointed out that Hertz, an out-of-state company, holds a significant chunk of Nantucket’s medallions, ruling that Chapter 58 does not place an undue burden on interstate commerce.

“Cumulatively, these allegations suggest that while Chapter 58 may confer some amount of advantage to incumbent agencies, it does not systematically favor in state businesses over out of-state competitors,” the ruling reads in part. “Balancing these factors, even drawing all reasonable inferences in Becky’s favor, the Amended Complaint does not plausibly allege that Chapter 58 imposes an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.”

Kelley also found the lawsuit’s claims that the town colluded with existing car rental agencies uncompelling.

“Becky’s highlights several facts, but none plausibly support an inference of concerted action, tacit or explicit, between the Town and incumbent rental agencies in enacting or maintaining Chapter 58,” she wrote.

One of the claims made by Becky’s Broncos was that the town’s failure to re-award eight unclaimed medallions that were surrendered to them constituted collusion with existing rental car agencies. Kelley ruled that the town’s failure to act did not necessarily indicate collusion.

Still, the slow pace of the process to award the medallions is notable. The Select Board first voted on a plan to award the medallions in July of 2025. In December of 2025, they voted to schedule a meeting to distribute the medallions. So far, the medallions still have yet to be distributed.

“The unused medallions have not been given out,” town licensing administrator Amy Baxter wrote in a message to the Current. “We have to go through the waiting list and then ask for business proposals for the Board to review. We hope to get some for the April meeting once we get through Liquor [license] renewals.”

Without legal relief from the courts, companies like Becky’s Broncos will have to shut down. If they don’t, they’ll be liable for a fine of $300 a day for each violation.

But the town’s enforcement actions haven’t stopped Turo, the peer-to-peer car rental company that allows independent individuals to rent out their cars. Comparable to Airbnb for cars, Turo dodges existing legislation, and efforts to stop locals from using it have moved slowly. A search of Turo’s database shows that it still has cars available for rent on island. Some locals use Turo to supplement their income and help them afford the high cost of living on island. Becky’s Broncos says that internal emails obtained from the town suggest that this was one reason the town declined to take any action against Turo operators.