Reliable tagged with $70,000 fine

The judgment ends almost a year of legal action.

In the original court filing, Nixon said Reliable Imports mailed advertisements stating that the dealer was selling inventory from a bankrupt rental car company, that a court had ordered a certain number of vehicles be sold, and that the sale was “by invitation only.” Nixon said all of those statements were false.

In addition, the suit said, Reliable misrepresented credit information by telling customers that they had a particular credit rating, which entitled them to better financing, when Reliable had no knowledge of the ratings of specific customers.

“It’s time Reliable Imports lived up to its name,” Nixon said in a news release. “Through this judgment, this company has been ordered to clean up its act. Failure to do so will, indeed, result in dire consequences.”

Reliable General Manager Bryan Penniman said the mistakes were the result of a third party that the company hired to put together the sale.

“It was one of those things where someone thought someone else was proofreading the piece, and it didn’t get done. We dropped the ball,” Penniman said.

“As soon as we found out the information was incorrect, we went to every length we could to make sure the customers

knew there were some misstatements,” he added.

The company is offering full refunds to all customers who purchased vehicles between June 8 and June 12. Penniman said two customers have received full refunds.

Under the ruling, the company cannot advertise without having an individual designated as advertising director attest, under penalty of perjury, to the truthfulness of each ad.

The Greene County Public School Fund and the state Merchandising Practices Revolving Fund will each receive $35,000 from Reliable’s payment to the state.

Further violations of the agreement would cost the company up to $5,000 per violation.

A statement from Reliable said the company is disappointed that the advertising company hired for the sale was not a target of the proceedings, adding that Reliable is “still considering possible recourse against the agency.”

Penniman would not name the advertising company.

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