[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16225-16227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6733]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 112 3207]
Ramey Motors, Inc.; 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 or unfair methods of competition. 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 16, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Ramey Motors, File No.
112 3207'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/rameymotorsconsent, by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex
D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Thurston (202-326-2752), FTC,
Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade
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Commission Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and Sec. 2.34 the
Commission Rules of Practice, 16 CFR 2.34, notice is hereby given that
the above-captioned consent agreement containing a 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 14, 2012), on the World Wide Web, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained from the FTC Public
Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-2222.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 16, 2012.
Write ``Ramey Motors, File No. 112 3207'' on your comment. Your comment
B--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 obtained from any person and which is privileged or
confidential,'' as provided 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/rameymotorsconsent 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 ``Ramey Motors, File No.
112 3207'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail or deliver it
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20580. 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 16, 2012. 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 Agreement Containing Consent Order to Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``AFTC'') has accepted, subject to
final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from Ramey
Motors, Inc. 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. The matter involves its
advertising of the purchase and financing of its motor vehicles.
According to the FTC complaint, respondent has represented that when a
consumer trades in a used vehicle in order to purchase another vehicle,
respondent will pay off the balance of the loan on the trade-in vehicle
such that the consumer will have no remaining obligation for any amount
of that loan. The complaint alleges that in fact, when a consumer
trades in a used vehicle with negative equity (i.e. the loan balance on
the vehicle exceeds the vehicle's value) in order to purchase another
vehicle, respondent does not pay off the balance of the loan on the
trade-in vehicle such that the consumer will have no remaining
obligation for any amount of that loan. Instead, the respondent
includes the amount of the negative equity in the loan for the newly
purchased vehicle. The complaint alleges therefore that the
representation is false or misleading in violation of Section 5 of the
FTC Act. In addition, the complaint alleges violations of the Truth in
Lending Act (``TILA'') and Regulation Z for failing to disclose certain
costs and terms when advertising credit.
The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future. Part I of the
proposed order prohibits the respondent from misrepresenting that it
will pay the remaining loan balance on a consumer's trade-in vehicle
such that the consumer will have no obligation for any amount of that
loan. It also prohibits misrepresenting any other material fact
relating to the financing or leasing of a motor vehicle.
Part II of the proposed order addresses the TILA allegations. It
requires clear and conspicuous TILA/Regulation Z disclosures when
advertising any of the relevant triggering terms with regard to issuing
consumer credit. It also 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 II prohibits
any other violation of TILA or Regulation Z.
Part III of the proposed order requires respondent to keep copies
of relevant advertisements and materials substantiating claims made in
the
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advertisements. Part IV requires that respondent provide copies of the
order to certain of its personnel. Part V requires notification of the
Commission regarding changes in corporate structure that might affect
compliance obligations under the order. Part VI requires the respondent
to file compliance reports with the Commission. Finally, Part VII 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. 2012-6733 Filed 3-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P