State sues Bergen auto dealer, charging deceptive marketing
 

A Bergen County auto dealer has been sued by state regulators for deceptive marketing.

In a four-count civil suit filed in Superior Court in Hackensack, Ramsey Chrysler Jeep Dodge was cited for failing to disclose key information to consumers, including the vehicles’ prior damage, use as rental vehicles, odometer readings and selling price.

The suit alleges that in doing so, the dealership violated the terms of a prior settlement.

The company faces penalties of up to $20,000 for each violation.

Many of the alleged violations cited in this suit, filed by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs involve listings on Craigslist.

Ramsey Auto Imports of Rt. 17 Inc. – the dealership’s official name – is part of the Ramsey Auto Group, which operates seven auto dealerships under 10 brands along Route 17 in Ramsey, Paramus and Upper Saddle River.

Perry Pittenger, an attorney for the auto group, said his initial reading of the suit is that the allegations seem to be for “violations of some very technical provisions” of the state’s advertising rules.

“It’s important to stress that there is no claim or allegation that any consumer was misled or harmed by the dealer’s alleged actions,” Pittenger said.

“I’m confident that once we’re in a position to discuss this with the Division of Consumer Affairs’ representatives, we’ll be able to come to a satisfactory resolution of this matter,” Pittenger said.

“This is a family-owned business that’s been in business half a century in Bergen County,” he said. In that time, they’ve sold tens of thousands of cars and have “a reputation for being a very good dealership.”

It was the third time in the last 13 years that a unit of the Ramsey Auto group has been cited by state regulators.

The suit, which was served on Tuesday, comes five years after the Ramsey Auto Group and several affiliated dealerships agreed to pay a penalty of up to $750,000, plus $156,000 in restitution, to settle charges it defrauded customers. That penalty was reduced to $250,000, however, after the company went a year without further allegations of violations.

In addition, the Ramsey Auto Group paid $380,000 in 1998 — a record at the time — to settle fraud charges involving one of its dealerships, Ramsey Nissan, and $47,000 in 2004 to settle similar charges lodged by then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

“I haven’t seen the other two [suits], but I am fairly confident this is unrelated to the other two,” Pittenger said. “I doubt the others had anything to do with ads on Craigslist or the price labeling law. This case is completely different.”

E-mail: demarrais@northjersey.com Blog: northjersey.com/moneyblog

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wow, this autogroup is the biggest selection of dealers to me. oh well