Matt Blatt Inc. and Glassboro Imports, LLC; Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment |
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Topics: Matt Blatt Inc., Glassboro Imports
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Donald S. Clark
Federal Trade Commission
April 1, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17432-17434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07404]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 132 3285]
Matt Blatt Inc. and Glassboro Imports, LLC; 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 http://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/mattblattconsent online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Matt Blatt Inc. and
Glassboro Imports, LLC Consent Agreement; File No. 1323285'' on your
comment and file your comment online at http://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/mattblattconsent by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, write ``Matt Blatt Inc. and Glassboro Imports, LLC Consent
Agreement; File No. 1323285'' 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: Daniel Dwyer, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, (202) 326-2957, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20580.
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 ``Matt Blatt Inc. and Glassboro Imports, LLC Consent Agreement;
File No. 1323285'' 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
[[Page 17433]]
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 http://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/mattblattconsent 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 ``Matt Blatt Inc. and
Glassboro Imports, LLC Consent Agreement; File No. 1323285'' 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. 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 Matt Blatt
Inc., also known as Matt Blatt KIA and as Matt Blatt Egg Harbor
Township (``Matt Blatt Inc.''), and from Glassboro Imports, LLC, also
known as Matt Blatt Glassboro Suzuki, as Matt Blatt Glassboro, and as
Matt Blatt Auto Sales (``Glassboro Imports''). 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 respondents are dealerships that offer an auto payment program
to consumers financing a motor vehicle. The matter involves the
dealerships' sale of the auto payment program to consumers. According
to the FTC complaint, respondents have represented that consumers who
enroll in its biweekly payment program in order to pay off their auto-
financing contract will save money or achieve other benefits through
the program. However, respondents failed to disclose that consumers who
enroll in the program are charged fees that in many cases offset any
savings under the program, and also failed to disclose the total amount
of these fees. These facts would be material to consumers in their
decision to enroll in the biweekly payment program sold by respondents.
The complaint alleges therefore that respondents' failure to disclose
the above-mentioned facts is a deceptive practice in violation of
Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The proposed order is designed to prevent respondents from engaging
in similar deceptive practices in the future. Section I prohibits
respondents from representing that a payment program or add-on product
or service will save consumers money, including interest, unless the
amount of savings is greater than the total amount of fees associated
with the product or service or any qualifying information is clearly
and conspicuously disclosed. Section I also prohibits respondents from
representing that a payment program or add-on product or service will
save any consumer a specific amount of money, including interest,
unless the specified amount is the amount of savings after deducting
any fees or any qualifying information relating to savings is clearly
and conspicuously disclosed.
Section II of the proposed order prohibits respondents from making
misrepresentations related to any payment programs, including regarding
the existence, amount, timing, or manner of any fees, the program's
benefits, performance, or efficacy.
Section III of the proposed order prohibits respondents from making
misrepresentations related to any add-on products or services,
including regarding the total costs of the add-on and the benefits,
performance, or efficacy of the add-on, any restrictions or conditions
associated with the add-on, the nature or terms of any refund,
cancellation, or exchange of an add-on, and that any add-on product can
improve, repair or otherwise affect a consumer's credit.
Section IV requires respondents to substantiate any representations
about the benefits, performance or efficacy of any add-on product or
service or any payment program.
Section V of the proposed order requires respondents to pay to the
Commission One Hundred Eighty Four Thousand Two Hundred Eighty dollars
($184,280.00) in monetary relief.
Section VI of the proposed order requires respondent to keep copies
of relevant advertisements and materials substantiating claims made in
the advertisements. Section VII requires that respondent provide copies
of the order to certain of its personnel. Section VIII requires
notification of the Commission regarding changes in corporate structure
that might affect compliance obligations under the order. Section IX
requires the respondent to file compliance reports with the Commission.
Finally, Section X 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.
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By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-07404 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P