WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission is sending a second round of payments totaling more than $857,000 to consumers who were harmed by Illinois-based Napleton Automotive Group’s junk fees and discriminatory practices.
The agency is sending 37,034 checks to distribute the funds.
The FTC sent the initial refund mailing in this case in November 2022. More than 88% of eligible consumers cashed their checks, resulting in more than $8.8 million returned to consumers, the FTC said.
The FTC and the State of Illinois sued Napleton Automotive Group in March 2022, alleging that Napleton employees were sneaking illegal junk fees for unwanted “add-ons” onto vehicle purchases and discriminating against Black consumers.
According to the joint complaint, eight of the company’s dealerships illegally tacked on junk fees for unwanted “add-on” products such as payment insurance and paint protection, costing consumers hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The complaint also alleged that Napleton discriminated against Black consumers by charging them more for add-ons and financing.
Record Settlement
“The case settled for a record amount for an auto finance case, reflecting the widespread and high-dollar nature of the harm to consumers. The FTC received 391 complaints—about add-ons and other issues—over a several-month period prior to filing a complaint against Napleton, the thirteenth largest dealership group in the country by revenue as of 2020. However, in a survey of the dealer’s customers over the same time period, 83% of respondents—or at least 16,848 customers—indicated they were subject to the dealer’s unlawful practices related to add-ons alone. This is consistent with the FTC’s experience, which finds that consumer complaints represent the tip of the iceberg compared to the number of consumers harmed,” the FTC said.
As Winter Approaches, the Price for the Best Daily News Update in Credit Remains a Nice, Cozy Free!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?