Banned, fined California car dealer says AG wore him down

According to the ruling, Auto Group and Paul Blanco will sell at least 1,500 “senior gold” ads that promise special interest rates and prices to senior consumers and no credit check, down payment or proof of income requirements. They explained a partnership with a credit union for a special senior rate.

However, senior citizens received no special treatment compared to other consumers, and the group had no such partnerships with credit unions, the ruling said.

“I didn’t admit anything,” said Paul Blanco. car news He was responsible for just one misleading advertisement.

Paul Blanco’s Good Car Company alone pleaded guilty to more than 670,000 violations described in the settlement, according to the ruling.

According to the ruling, the group admitted to posting 650,000 ads containing one or more misleading auto loan promises between August 30, 2013 and December 2020.

“The company cannot speak for itself,” said Paul Blanco on the matter. “It’s fake.”

Inaccurate claims in the ad included claims that the group did not top lenders’ interest rates and offered “lowest” and “highest” interest rates regardless of creditworthiness, according to the ruling. including allegations that more than 100,000 lenders fought over customers’ businesses.

The ruling says the group admitted to defrauding lenders with 20,000 cases of “powerbooking.” The term refers to the practice of dealer employees misleading lenders as to the value of a vehicle by falsely claiming the existence of features such as accessories.

According to the ruling, the group’s entire staff buried more than $7 million worth of vehicles.

“Defendant Paul Blanco was aware of the power-booking activity, but rather promoted and encouraged it,” the state writes in the complaint.

Both Paul and Putu Blanco deny any joint efforts to wield power. Paul Blanco said the examples cited by the state could be disproved by his records. He said it was resolved between the dealer and the bank.

According to the ruling, the group admitted to being aware of other lies by its employees. Time,” and said it falsely claimed despite significant exclusions and a short period of time.

Putu Blanco said he has had a compliance program in place to check for such behavior since 2012 and has refined them over the years.

The group reported that it knew about senior manager Jeff Holt but couldn’t stop it. Trained and encouraged other employees to powerbook.

Both Blanco denied the state’s claims about such refinancing promises. The action in question was simply telling the customer they could trade in their vehicle, they said. Putu Blanco argued that using another name was not illegal, and Paul Blanco said Holt had the authority to make the transactions he made. Holt also lived with the Blanco family for a while.