DALLAS (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Dec. 1 that Cowboy AG LLC, a company in Dallas that does business as Cowboy Toyota and Cowboy Scion (Cowboy Toyota), has agreed to settle allegations of deceptively advertising loan and leasing terms in ads delivered in a regional Spanish-language newspaper.
According to the FTC, Cowboy Toyota took out multiple full-page ads in the newspaper saying consumers could buy or lease a vehicle at favorable terms. Although this text would be prominently written in Spanish, Cowboy Toyota would include small fine print written in English that put material limitations to the terms.
The FTC alleged Cowboy Toyota’s actions violated the FTC Act, the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). In addition to misrepresenting the cost of its vehicles and the qualifications for financing or leasing, Cowboy Toyota allegedly failed to properly disclose credit or lease terms.
Under the proposed order to settle the case, Cowboy Toyota agreed to not engage in the deceptive practices in the future.
The FTC voted 2-0 to issue the administrative complaint and accept the consent agreement.