80 FR 17437 - TT of Longwood, Inc.; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 62 (April 1, 2015)

Page Range17437-17438
FR Document2015-07407

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17437-17438]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07407]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152 3047]


TT of Longwood, Inc.; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public 
Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 27, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coryfairbanksmazdaconsent online or on 
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``TT of Longwood, 
Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1523047'' on your comment and file 
your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coryfairbanksmazdaconsent by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``TT of 
Longwood, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1523047'' on your comment 
and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office 
of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, 
Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sana Chriss, Southeast Regional 
Office, (404) 656-1364, 225 Peachtree Street NE., Suite 1500, Atlanta, 
Georgia 30303.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for March 26, 2015), on the World Wide Web at: 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 27, 2015. 
Write ``TT of Longwood, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1523047'' on 
your comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/coryfairbanksmazdaconsent by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``TT of Longwood, Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1523047'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the

[[Page 17438]]

Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), 
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 
400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 
20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by 
courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before April 27, 2015. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'') has accepted, subject to 
final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from TT of 
Longwood, Inc., also doing business as Cory Fairbanks Mazda. The 
proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for thirty 
(30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. Comments 
received during this period will become part of the public record. 
After thirty (30) days, the FTC will again review the agreement and the 
comments received, and will decide whether it should withdraw from the 
agreement and take appropriate action or make final the agreement's 
proposed order.
    The respondent is a motor vehicle dealer. According to the FTC's 
complaint, the respondent has misrepresented: (1) Vehicle purchase 
prices; (2) that advertised prices, discounts, rebates, bonuses, and 
incentives are available to all consumers; (3) the prices for added 
features such as spoilers and sunroofs; (4) that vehicles are available 
for sale or lease for zero down, zero payments, or zero interest; (5) 
that vehicles are available for $99; and (6) that consumers can pay $0 
at the inception of a lease to lease the advertised vehicle for the 
advertised monthly payment amount. The complaint alleges therefore that 
the representations are false and misleading in violation of Section 5 
of the FTC Act.
    In addition, the complaint alleges the respondent violated the 
Consumer Leasing Act (``CLA'') and Regulation M for failing to disclose 
or to disclose clearly and conspicuously certain costs and terms when 
advertising vehicles for lease.
    The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from 
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future. Part I.A of the 
proposed order prohibits the respondent from misrepresenting the cost 
of: (1) Purchasing a vehicle with financing, including but not 
necessarily limited to the amount or percentage of the down payment, 
the number of payments or period of repayment, the amount of any 
payment, and the repayment obligation over the full term of the loan, 
including any balloon payment; or (2) leasing a vehicle, including but 
not limited to the total amount due at lease inception, the down 
payment, amount down, acquisition fee, capitalized cost reduction, any 
other amount required to be paid at lease inception, and the amounts of 
all monthly or other periodic payments. Part I.B prohibits the 
respondent from misrepresenting any other material fact about the 
price, sale, financing, or leasing of any vehicle.
    Part II.A of the proposed order prohibits respondent from 
representing that a discount, rebate, bonus, incentive or price is 
available unless: (1) It is available to all consumers, and for all 
vehicles advertised; or (2) the representation clearly and 
conspicuously discloses all qualifications or restrictions on: (a) A 
consumer's ability to obtain the discount, rebate, bonus, incentive, or 
price and (b) the vehicles available at the discount, rebate, bonus 
incentive, or price. Part II.B prohibits respondent from 
misrepresenting any of the following: (1) The existence or amount of 
any discount, rebate, bonus, incentive, or price; (2) the existence, 
price, value, coverage, or features of any product or service 
associated with the motor vehicle purchase; (3) the number of vehicles 
available at particular prices; or (4) any other material fact about 
the price, sale, financing, or leasing of motor vehicles.
    Part III of the proposed order addresses the CLA allegations. Part 
III.A prohibits the respondent from stating the amount of any payment 
or that any or no initial payment is required at lease inception 
without disclosing clearly and conspicuously: (1) That the transaction 
advertised is a lease; (2) the total amount due at lease signing or 
delivery; (3) whether or not a security deposit is required; (4) the 
number, amounts, and timing of scheduled payments; and (5) that an 
extra charge may be imposed at the end of the lease term. Part III.B 
prohibits the respondent from violating any provision of the CLA or 
Regulation M.
    Part IV of the proposed order requires the respondent to keep 
copies of relevant advertisements and materials substantiating claims 
made in the advertisements. Part V requires the respondent to provide 
copies of the order to certain of its personnel. Part VI requires 
notification to the Commission regarding changes in corporate structure 
that might affect compliance obligations under the order. Part VII 
requires the respondent to file compliance reports with the Commission. 
Finally, Part VIII is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order after twenty 
(20) years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any 
way the proposed order's terms.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-07407 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P


Current View
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionProposed Consent Agreement.
DatesComments must be received on or before April 27, 2015.
ContactSana Chriss, Southeast Regional Office, (404) 656-1364, 225 Peachtree Street NE., Suite 1500, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
FR Citation80 FR 17437 

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