CURRAN ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH KOONS CHEVROLET

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that his Consumer Protection Division entered into an agreement with Koons Chevrolet, Inc. that settles allegations of misrepresentations in a sales promotion that Koons Chevrolet, Inc. conducted in February and March of 2004.

Koons Chevrolet, Inc. operates an auto dealership located in White Marsh Maryland. The Consumer Protection Division accused Koons Chevrolet, Inc. of violating the Consumer Protection Act in its sales promotion by distributing fliers that deceptively suggested that the promotion was affiliated or connected with a government entity. The fliers also misleadingly suggested that consumers could assume the payment of used vehicles, and represented that it was discounting prices in order to comply with the guidelines of a program to dispose of off-lease or repossessed vehicles. Koons Chevrolet, Inc. denied that it intentionally violated the Consumer Protection Act.

The settlement prohibits Koons Chevrolet, Inc. from representing that a sales event has an affiliation or a connection with a government entity when, in fact, there is no affiliation or connection; promoting a sales event by representing that a consumer may pay an acquisition fee and then take over payments of a used car, when in fact, no such option is intended for the event; and representing that Koons Chevrolet, Inc. is discounting the prices of automobiles in order to comply with the guidelines of a program, when in fact, no such program exists. The settlement also requires Koons Chevrolet to pay $25,000 in penalties and costs.