CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is seeking the immediate and permanent shut down of car dealerships that he says are unlicensed and breaking the law.
The lawsuit was filed April 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Karen Lee Richmond; Brian Richmond; Corey Smith; Glenville Ratliff, who is doing business as Maplewood Auto Sales; Richmond’s Quality Cars; and CMS Pre-owned Auto Sales.
Morrisey claims that the four individuals played a part in operating two dealerships that misrepresented odometer readings and unlawfully sold vehicles “as is,” at times passing used cars onto the consumer with serious mechanical defects and fraudulent inspection stickers.
Morrisey wants to permanently shut down the dealerships, seize any inventory remaining up for sale and force its owners to forfeit all proceeds from every vehicle they sold to refund consumers.
Morrisey also claims the individuals involved did so without a state dealer’s license and in open violation of repeated cease and desist orders from the state Division of Motor Vehicles.
“Our state cannot tolerate such blatant disregard for the law,” Morrisey said. “Any business that circumvents the law must be dealt with accordingly, and this lawsuit demonstrates our commitment to protect consumers
The lawsuit cites six consumers to illustrate its allegations.
One story involved a vehicle in such poor condition that a zip tie was used to hold down its hood. That vehicle was returned by the purchaser without a refund.
Other stories include allegations that the Richmonds taped over an odometer reading to pass off an 185,000-mile vehicle as 85,000, used worthless checks to refund the purchase of an unsafe vehicle and sold another without a title.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 18-C-454
