TC Dealership, L.P.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment |
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Topics: TC Dealership, Planet Hyundai
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Donald S. Clark
Federal Trade Commission
July 7, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38689-38690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16618]
[[Page 38689]]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 152 3096]
TC Dealership, L.P.; Analysis of 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 July 29, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/planethyundaiconsent online or on paper,
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``TC Dealership, L.P.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3096'' on your comment and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/planethyundaiconsent by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``TC
Dealership, L.P.--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3096'' 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: Yan Fang, FTC Western Region, (415-
848-5150), 901 Market Street, Suite 570, San Francisco, CA 94103.
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 June 29, 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 July 29, 2015.
Write ``TC Dealership, L.P.--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3096'' 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/planethyundaiconsent 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 ``TC Dealership, L.P.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3096'' 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 July 29, 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'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing consent
order from TC Dealership, L.P., also doing business as Planet Hyundai.
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 Commission 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.
[[Page 38690]]
The respondent is a motor vehicle dealer. According to the FTC's
complaint, the respondent has misrepresented in certain advertisements:
(1) Vehicle purchase prices; (2) that advertised monthly payment
amounts were for vehicle purchases, not leases; and (3) that consumers
can pay $0 at signing to obtain vehicles shown in the advertisements
for the advertised monthly amount. The complaint alleges therefore that
the representations are false or misleading in violation of Section 5
of the FTC Act.
In addition, the complaint alleges that 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 FTC's complaint also alleges that the respondent violated the
Truth in Lending Act (``TILA'') and Regulation Z by failing to disclose
or to disclose clearly and conspicuously certain costs and terms when
advertising credit.
The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent
respondent from engaging in similar acts or practices in the future.
Part I.A of the order prohibits respondent from misrepresenting the
cost of: (1) Purchasing a vehicle with financing, including but not
necessarily limited to, the amount or percentage of the downpayment,
the number of payments or period of repayment, the amount of any
payment, the annual percentage rate or any other finance rate, and the
repayment obligation over the full term of the loan, including any
balloon payment; or (2) leasing a vehicle, including but not
necessarily limited to, the total amount due at lease inception, the
downpayment, 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 of the proposed order addresses the CLA allegations. Part
II.A prohibits 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 II.B
prohibits the respondent from violating any provision of the CLA or
Regulation M.
Part III of the proposed order addresses the TILA allegations. Part
III.A requires the respondent to make all of the disclosures required
by TILA and Regulation Z when any of its advertisements state relevant
triggering terms. Part III.B requires that if any finance charge is
advertised, the rate be stated as an ``annual percentage rate'' using
that term or the abbreviation ``APR.'' In addition, Part III.C
prohibits the respondent from failing to comply in any respect with
TILA and Regulation Z.
Part IV of the proposed order requires respondent to keep copies of
relevant advertisements and materials substantiating claims made in the
advertisements. Part V requires the respondent 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 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 facilitate public comment on the
proposed order, and it is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify the
proposed order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-16618 Filed 7-6-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P