Bloomfield Car Dealership Will Pay $46K To Settle Allegations With NJ

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A car dealership based in Bloomfield was among three businesses that recently reached a settlement with the state over alleged consumer protection violations, authorities announced Friday.

Acting Attorney Matthew Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs said that separate settlements totaling nearly $400,000 have been reached with three car dealerships, including several Lynnes dealerships — Lynnes Nissan East, Lynnes Hyundai, and Lynnes Subaru Inc. — which are all located in Bloomfield.

See the settlement with Lynnes here.

The other two settlements were reached with Open Road Group and Glen Motors Inc.

Prosecutors said Lynnes agreed to a $46,381 settlement, which includes $33,500 in civil penalties, to resolve allegations that included:

• Charging consumers for certain fees twice
• Accepting incomplete credit applications from prospective buyers
• Failing to list vehicle prices on sales documents

Under the terms of the Consent Order with the Division, Lynnes, among other things, agreed to:

• Comply with all applicable state and/or federal laws, rules, and regulations, including the Consumer Fraud Act, the Motor Vehicle Advertising Regulations, and the Automotive Sales Practices Regulations
• Itemize all aftermarket merchandise and dealer-installed options in the sales documents and aftermarket contract
• Include the trade-in value of a vehicle on all sales documents
• Not engage in a “bait and switch” by refusing to show, display, sell, or lease vehicles at the advertised price, as required by the Consumer Fraud Act and the Motor Vehicle Advertising Regulations
• Accurately disclose the sale price of vehicle on the sales documents
• Refrain from signing any aftermarket contract, lease, sales document, or other document on behalf of a consumer or affixing a consumer’s signature to any document

Lynnes also agreed to enter binding arbitration through the division’s ADR unit to resolve all pending complaints from affected consumers and to arbitrate, if necessary, any additional consumer complaints received by the division for a period of three years, prosecutors said.

A portion of the settlement amount will be suspended and automatically vacated provided the company complies with the terms of the agreement, authorities said.

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