City Nissan Inc., Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment, 17435-17437 [2015-07408]
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mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices
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. This matter involves the
respondent’s advertising of the purchase
and financing of its motor vehicles.
According to the FTC’s complaint, the
respondent has advertised that vehicles
are available for purchase at the prices
prominently advertised when in fact,
the complaint alleges, consumers must
pay an additional $3,000 to purchase
the advertised vehicles. The complaint
alleges therefore that the representations
are false or misleading in violation of
Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The complaint further alleges that the
respondent has advertised that specific
discounts, rebates, bonuses, or
incentives are generally available to
consumers, when in fact, according to
the complaint, they are not generally
available to consumers. 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 Truth in
Lending Act (‘‘TILA’’) and Regulation Z
by failing to disclose or disclose clearly
and conspicuously 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.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 to consumers
unless, it is available to all consumers
and for all vehicles advertised; or the
representation clearly and
conspicuously discloses all material
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Jkt 235001
qualifications or restrictions, if any,
including but not limited to
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: (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 TILA allegation. 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. 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 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 that
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 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. 2015–07409 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 132 3114]
City Nissan Inc., Proposed Consent
Order to Aid Public Comment
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Federal Trade Commission.
Frm 00050
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
ACTION:
17435
Proposed Consent Agreement.
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.
SUMMARY:
Comments must be received on
or before April 27, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a
comment at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
citynissanconsent online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below. Write ‘‘City Nissan Inc.—
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323114’’
on your comment and file your
comment online at https://
ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/
citynissanconsent by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If
you prefer to file your comment on
paper, write ‘‘City Nissan Inc.—Consent
Agreement; File No. 1323114’’ 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: John
Jacobs, Western Region—Los Angeles,
(310) 824–4360, 10877 Wilshire Blvd.,
Suite 700, Los Angeles, California
90024.
DATES:
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: https://www.ftc.gov/
os/actions.shtm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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01APN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
17436
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices
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 ‘‘City
Nissan Inc.—Consent Agreement; File
No. 1323114’’ 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 https://
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.
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/
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).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:37 Mar 31, 2015
Jkt 235001
citynissanconsent by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If
this Notice appears at https://
www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also
may file a comment through that Web
site.
If you file your comment on paper,
write ‘‘City Nissan Inc.—Consent
Agreement; File No. 1323114’’ 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
https://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
https://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 City Nissan, Inc.,
also doing business as Ross Nissan. 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 complaint,
the respondent has advertised
promotions for the leasing and financing
of automobiles. In advertising lease
offers, the complaint alleges, the
respondent has misrepresented that
consumers can pay $0 at lease inception
to lease the vehicles shown in the
advertisements for the advertised
monthly payment amount. The
PO 00000
Frm 00051
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
complaint alleges that, in fact,
consumers must pay substantially more
to drive off with these vehicles. The
complaint alleges therefore that the
representations are false and misleading
in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The complaint further alleges that the
respondent has advertised an annual
percentage rate of 0% to finance the
vehicles shown in the advertisements
for the advertised monthly payment.
The complaint alleges that in fact, the
annual percentage rate is substantially
greater than 0%. The complaint alleges
therefore that the representations are
false and misleading in violation of
Section 5 of the FTC Act.
Additionally, the complaint alleges
violations of the Consumer Leasing Act
(‘‘CLA’’) and Regulation M for failing to
disclose or to disclose clearly and
conspicuously certain costs and terms
when advertising credit. Finally, the
complaint alleges violations of the Truth
in Lending Act (‘‘TILA’’) and Regulation
Z for failing to disclose or to disclose
clearly and conspicuously 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.A of the proposed order prohibits
the respondent from misrepresenting
the cost of: (1) 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; or (2) 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,
the annual percentage rate or any other
finance rate, and the repayment
obligation over the full term of the loan,
including any balloon payment. 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
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 in a lease in
E:\FR\FM\01APN1.SGM
01APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Notices
which the liability of the consumer 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 allegation. 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. 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 III.C prohibits the
respondent from failing to comply in
any respect with TILA and Regulation
Z.
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. 2015–07408 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 152 3047]
TT of Longwood, Inc.; Proposed
Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
Federal Trade Commission.
Proposed Consent Agreement.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
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.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:37 Mar 31, 2015
Jkt 235001
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 webbased 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: https://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
https://www.ftc.gov/os/
publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00052
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
17437
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.
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 webbased form. If this Notice appears at
https://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
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).
E:\FR\FM\01APN1.SGM
01APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17435-17437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07408]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 132 3114]
City Nissan Inc., Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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/citynissanconsent online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``City Nissan Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323114'' on your comment and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/citynissanconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``City Nissan Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323114'' 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: John Jacobs, Western Region--Los
Angeles, (310) 824-4360, 10877 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles,
California 90024.
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:
https://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
[[Page 17436]]
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 ``City Nissan Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1323114'' 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 https://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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/citynissanconsent by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If this Notice appears at https://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you
also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``City Nissan Inc.--
Consent Agreement; File No. 1323114'' 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 https://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 https://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 City
Nissan, Inc., also doing business as Ross Nissan. 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
complaint, the respondent has advertised promotions for the leasing and
financing of automobiles. In advertising lease offers, the complaint
alleges, the respondent has misrepresented that consumers can pay $0 at
lease inception to lease the vehicles shown in the advertisements for
the advertised monthly payment amount. The complaint alleges that, in
fact, consumers must pay substantially more to drive off with these
vehicles. The complaint alleges therefore that the representations are
false and misleading in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The complaint further alleges that the respondent has advertised an
annual percentage rate of 0% to finance the vehicles shown in the
advertisements for the advertised monthly payment. The complaint
alleges that in fact, the annual percentage rate is substantially
greater than 0%. The complaint alleges therefore that the
representations are false and misleading in violation of Section 5 of
the FTC Act.
Additionally, the complaint alleges violations of the Consumer
Leasing Act (``CLA'') and Regulation M for failing to disclose or to
disclose clearly and conspicuously certain costs and terms when
advertising credit. Finally, the complaint alleges violations of the
Truth in Lending Act (``TILA'') and Regulation Z for failing to
disclose or to disclose clearly and conspicuously 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.A of the
proposed order prohibits the respondent from misrepresenting the cost
of: (1) 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; or (2) 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, the annual percentage rate or any other finance
rate, and the repayment obligation over the full term of the loan,
including any balloon payment. 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 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 in a lease in
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which the liability of the consumer 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 allegation. 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. 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 III.C
prohibits the respondent from failing to comply in any respect with
TILA and Regulation Z.
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. 2015-07408 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
