RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced a consent judgment Tuesday against a Louisiana auto advertiser that allegedly misled consumers with its advertisements for used car sales events.
Under the terms of a consent judgment, Level 10 Marketing and David M. Bottner, the company's owner, are permanently banned from engaging in any promotional business or advertising with used or new automobile dealerships in North Carolina. If the defendants fail to comply with the judgment, they will be ordered to pay a $40,000 penalty.
North Carolina joined Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland, Kentucky, Iowa and Arizona in bringing the case.
"Using false promises and bogus prizes to lure customers is no way to do business," Cooper said. "Consumers deserve straight-forward information when they're preparing to make such a big purchase."
Level 10 Marketing sold advertising and sales packages to auto dealers in North Carolina meant to increase sales of the dealers' used vehicle inventories. The advertisements allegedly made false claims about the sales events, used misleading terms to create a false sense of urgency, made claims that the used vehicles would be sold at 90 percent off their original price that was found to be a comparison with manufacturer's retail price, falsely claimed that some vehicles would be available for $1 down and $114 per month, and misrepresented the ability of consumers to obtain financing.
N.C. AG wins judgment against auto advertiser
