[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3376-3378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01001]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132-3163]


Nissan of South Atlanta, LLC, Also Doing Business as Nissan 
South; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis of 
Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment describes both the 
allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--
embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 10, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/nissanconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Nissan of South 
Atlanta, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 132-3163'' on your comment 
and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/nissanconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If 
you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment 
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Glassman, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202-326-2826), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for January 9, 2014), on the

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World Wide Web, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can 
be obtained from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by 
calling (202) 326-2222.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 10, 
2014. Write ``Nissan of South Atlanta, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 
132-3163'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your 
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, 
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web 
site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of 
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact 
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web 
site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/nissanconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. 
If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also 
may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Nissan of South Atlanta, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 132-3163'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your 
paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before February 10, 2014. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'') has accepted, subject to 
final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from Nissan of 
South Atlanta, LLC, also d/b/a Nissan South. The proposed consent order 
has been placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt 
of comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period 
will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the FTC 
will again review the agreement and the comments received, and will 
decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take 
appropriate action or make final the agreement's proposed order.
    The respondent is a motor vehicle dealer. According to the FTC 
complaint, respondent has advertised that consumers can finance the 
purchase of vehicles by paying $99 per month with a $0 downpayment. The 
complaint alleges that, in fact, consumers will pay $99 per month for 
only the first two months of an 84-month period. The complaint further 
alleges that the advertisements fail to state the amount of each 
payment beyond the first two months of financing. The complaint alleges 
therefore that the respondent's representations are false or misleading 
in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. In addition, the complaint 
alleges that the respondent violated the Truth in Lending Act 
(``TILA'') and Regulation Z for failing to clearly and conspicuously 
disclose required information concerning costs and credit terms.
    The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from 
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future. Part I.A 
prohibits the respondent from misrepresenting the cost of: (1) 
Purchasing a vehicle with financing, including but not necessarily 
limited to the amount or percentage of the downpayment, the number of 
payments or period of repayment, the amount of any payment, and the 
repayment obligation over the full term of the loan, including any 
balloon payment; or (2) leasing a vehicle, including but not limited to 
the total amount due at lease inception, the downpayment, amount down, 
acquisition fee, capitalized cost reduction, any other amount required 
to be paid at lease inception, and the amounts of all monthly or other 
periodic payments. Part I.B prohibits the respondent from 
misrepresenting any other material fact about the price, sale, 
financing, or leasing of any vehicle.
    Part II of the proposed order addresses the TILA allegations. It 
requires clear and conspicuous TILA and Regulation Z disclosures when 
advertising any of the relevant triggering terms with regard to issuing 
consumer credit. It also requires that if any finance charge is 
advertised, the rate be stated as an ``annual percentage rate'' using 
that term or the abbreviation ``APR.'' In addition, Part II prohibits 
any other violation of TILA or Regulation Z.
    Part III of the proposed order requires respondent to keep copies 
of relevant advertisements and materials substantiating claims made in 
the advertisements. Part IV requires that respondent provide copies of 
the order to certain of its personnel. Part V requires notification to 
the Commission regarding changes in corporate structure that might 
affect compliance obligations under the order. Part VI requires the 
respondent to file compliance reports with the Commission. Finally, 
Part VII is a provision ``sunsetting'' the order after twenty (20) 
years, with certain exceptions.

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    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any 
way the proposed order's terms.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-01001 Filed 1-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P