Westchester, NYC Car Dealers to Pay $14 Mil. Settlement for Deceptive Practices

White Plains Honda is one of three New York car dealers hit with allegations from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of using ”fraudulent, deceptive, and illegal” practices, which led to Schneiderman forcing the businesses to return a total of $14 million to more than 15,000 customers who were cheated.

The trio were investigated ”for alleged unlawful sale of credit repair and identity theft prevention services, and other ’after-sale’ items... that in some cases added more than $2,000 in hidden costs and fees onto the sale or lease price of a single vehicle.” The other two dealerships involved are Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura; all three are considered Paragon dealerships and are owned by same individuals.

“When consumers shop for a car, they deserve to be dealt with honestly and fairly – and not to be misled by auto dealers who use deceptive tactics to fleece their own customers,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “New York consumers must beware: Car dealerships sometimes pad their pockets by charging for worthless after-sale items, which inflate the price of their car. These items are often ones that consumers don’t need, did not ask for and often are not even told about. Businesses need to make a profit to survive, but it’s illegal to do so by duping consumers.”

This settlement is part of the attorney general’s wider initiative to end the practice of “jamming,” unlawfully charging consumers for hidden purchases by car dealerships. As part of the wider investigation, Attorney General Schneiderman’s Consumer Frauds Bureau recently obtained a consent order that shut down Credit Forget, Inc. (CFI), a New York company that sold the unlawful credit repair and identity theft prevention services to car dealerships. The dealerships turned around and sold those service contracts at a higher price. It is a violation of state and federal law to charge upfront fees for services that promise to help consumers restore or improve their credit, and contracts that violate the law are void.

Schneiderman also served notice to 11 other New York car dealerships, including Honda of New Rochelle, 25 East Main St., that he intends to sue to them under similar circumstances.

Paragon Honda and Acura dealerships are located at 57-02 Northern Blvd. and 56-02 Northern Blvd. in Woodside, NY, respectively, and White Plains Honda is located at 344 Central Ave. in White Plains.

The settlement prohibits Paragon from:

• Selling, offering to sell or marketing credit repair and identity theft services in connection with the sale or lease of a vehicle;
• Selling, offering for sale, or providing to consumers any after-sale product or service unless, prior to such sale, certain material terms, including price, are disclosed verbally and in writing;
• Misrepresenting the price of the vehicle in final lease or sale contracts;
• Negotiating any terms of a sale or lease with a consumer in a language other than English without providing a translation of certain material documents in the language in which the terms were negotiated before the consumer signs these documents;
• Failing to provide consumers with sales or lease agreements that clearly and conspicuously itemize each after-sale product or service and its price.

Besides the Paragon dealerships, the Attorney General’s Office also reached a $41,000 settlement with L.I. Autoworld, Inc., d/b/a Generation Kia in Bohemia, Suffolk County, after an investigation found the company fraudulently sold CFI services and other after-sale products. As part of that agreement, reached earlier this year, Generation Kia, made $16,000 in payments reimbursing 24 consumers. That restitution is profits the company made off consumers related to the unlawful CFI contracts they sold. In addition, the company paid more than $20,000 in restitution to a dozen other consumers who were subjected to deceptive business practices. Generation Kia also paid a $5,000 penalty. The settlement requires Generation Kia to stop using deceptive and misleading sales tactics and to provide documents and disclosures required by law, including the itemization of the cost of after-sale items in sale and lease agreements.

“A car is one of the biggest purchases many consumers make and we must do everything we can to protect them from unscrupulous auto dealers,” said Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Julie Menin, in a statement. “DCA has taken an innovative and aggressive approach, investigating dealers’ relationships with banks, creating a safe, affordable and transparent auto loan, and obtaining restitution for consumers harmed by predatory actors. We’re thankful to the Attorney General for his hard-hitting actions against businesses that are deceiving New York City consumers.”

Between 2010 and 2014, the Attorney General’s investigation found that, the three Paragon dealerships used deceptive sales tactics that tacked on after sale items by misrepresenting that the services were free. The Paragon dealers claim to sell or lease approximately 1,000 new and used vehicles a month. According to the investigation, and starting in at least March 2010, Paragon entered into an arrangement with CFI to sell its customers CFI’s credit repair and identify theft protection services.

“Every time Paragon charged a consumer for these services they violated state and federal laws banning upfront fees for these services,” according to Schneiderman.

The settlement requires Paragon to pay $6 million into a restitution fund administered by a third-party administer to be distributed to Paragon consumers with CFI contracts and to provide each of the about 15,000 consumers with a $500 “settlement card” that can be applied to one or more of the following from Paragon:

• the purchase or lease of any new or used vehicle;
• certain services or maintenance, such as oil changes, tire rotations, tire repairs, and wheel alignments; or
• certain accessories, such as mats and replacement windshield wipers.

The Attorney General’s investigation found that “after a consumer worked with a salesperson to choose a car, they met with a ’Finance & Insurance Manager’ who attempted to sell them additional products such as extended warranties, a security system and credit repair services.” In many instances, the investigation showed, Paragon simply charged consumers for the credit repair services and concealed that they were charging consumers. In other instances, Paragon allegedly falsely told consumers, who said they did not need or want the services, that the services were free.

Some consumers were sold the services without their knowledge despite the fact that they had excellent credit.

The investigation also found:

In addition to charging consumers for credit repair and identity theft prevention services without their knowledge or consent, the Paragon dealers added on charges for other after-sale items, like tire protection and Lo-Jack, without clearly disclosing what they were charging for such items. The costs of these items were often bundled into the vehicle sale price and not separately itemized. As a result, often unbeknownst to the consumer, the price of the car stated on purchase and lease documents was inflated by the amount of these after-sale items.

The Attorney General’s investigation further found that the dealerships failed to provide required disclosures, such as a consumer’s rights to cancel the credit repair services contract. In addition, the dealerships sometimes negotiated purchase and lease terms with consumers in Spanish and then only provided contracts and documents in English. New York City law requires that when the terms of an installment agreement are negotiated in Spanish, the seller must provide documents translated in Spanish.

The Attorney General’s consent order with Credit Forget It and its two principals, Damien Bullard and Michael E. Morgan, dissolves the company, enjoins it and its principals from marketing, promoting, selling, or engaging in the “credit services business” in violation of the law or from misrepresenting the services they offer. It requires Credit Forget It and its principals to instruct all dealerships to whom they distributed contracts for credit repair services for sale to consumers to stop selling these services and to remove all promotional materials and contracts from their dealerships. It further orders the dissolution of Credit Forget It. If Credit Forget It and its principals do not comply with these terms, they must pay $2 million.

According to the Attorney General’s investigation, L.I Autoworld used deceptive sales tactics to sell CFI’s credit repair services and other after-sale items to consumers. They failed to provide sufficient time for consumers to review their financing documents and sometimes failed to give consumers copies of those documents, and enticed consumers to enter into high monthly payments with the false promise that the consumer could refinance in six months.

The Attorney General also served notice of his intent to sue eleven automobile dealerships who allegedly engaged in similar practices. They are:

• Westchester Autoplex, Inc. d/b/a Honda of New Rochelle, 25 East Main Street, New Rochelle, NY;
• G. Hylan Motors Corp d/b/a Staten Island Honda and Staten Island Nissan, 1232 and 1220 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, New York;
• Huntington Honda, Inc.,1055 E. Jericho Turnpike, Huntington, NY;
• GPB 8 LLC d/b/a Nissan of Huntington, 850 East Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station, NY;
• GPB 9 LLC d/b/a Volkswagen of Huntington, 838 East Jericho Turnpike, Huntington Station, NY;
• Plaza Motors of Brooklyn, Inc. d/b/a Plaza Honda, 2740 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY;
• Plaza Hyundai, Ltd., 2740 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY;
• Plaza Oldsmobile, Ltd. d/b/a Plaza Toyota, 2733 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY;
• Louzoun Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a/ Queensboro Toyota, 62-10 Northern Blvd, Woodside, NY;
• Potamkin New York, LP d/b/a Potamkin Hyundai, 2495 2nd Ave., Manhattan;

The office is continuing to investigate other New York auto dealers that sold or sell after-sale services, including Manfredi Auto Central LLC on Staten Island, which allegedly sold more than 1,400 CFI contracts. The Attorney General filed a motion to compel documents from Manfredi, after it refused to comply with an investigatory subpoena.

Consumers who believe they have been jammed with unwanted products or services or who were sold CFI’s credit repair services by a car dealership are urged to file complaints online or call 1-800-771-7755.

The cases against the Paragon dealerships, Credit Forget It, Manfredi and the continuing investigation against other dealers are being handled by Special Assistant Attorney General Stephen Mindell, Assistant Attorneys General Noah Popp, Elena González and Herbert Israel, Adam Cohen, Marsha Yee, Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine, Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia, all of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Karla G. Sanchez. L.I. Autoworld was handled by Assistant Attorney General Rachael C. Anello, Kimberly Kinirons, Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Suffolk Regional Office, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Regional Offices Marty Mack.

Patch file photo.