Law Office of Dana L. Manner, PL - Miami, Florida
Consumer Advocate Attorney - (305) 285-9495

A Canadian TV broadcast (CBC’s “Marketplace” Canada’s Investigative Consumer Show) exposes holes “big enough to drive a truck through” in Carfax vehicle history reports. This video segment shows how many cars that appear to have clean vehicle histories can actually have hidden damage and prior repairs. Used car dealers can exploit these gaps in reporting, [...]

About six months ago, it came to my attention that a used car dealer in Clearwater, Florida was selling cars on eBay that have “clean” titles and vehicle history reports (e.g. AutoCheck or Carfax) that appear to be good, but car buyers need to read the fine print in this dealer’s eBay advertisements very carefully. [...]

As reported on the Mannerlaw Blog earlier this year, on May 11, 2012 the Florida DMV issued a notice to tax collectors and license plate agencies and car dealers making it mandatory for Florida licensed motor vehicle dealers to enter the net selling price of the car prior to the completion of a title transaction. Implementation of this procedure [...]

According to a press release from the US Department of Justice http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/July/12-ag-933.html Capital One will pay $10K for every wrongful repo on servicemen. July 26, 2012 – In its second settlement in eight days, Capital One Bank will pay $12 million in restitution to troops who were unlawfully denied reprieve from high interest rates, foreclosure and car [...]

After a year-long investigation into auto fraud by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 9 suspects (including a Miami Beach police officer) were arrested last month on September 7, 2012   related to a scheme to defraud Miami-area car dealers, for nearly a half-million dollars. George Robert Navarro, 26, a Miami Beach police officer, was charged [...]

10. Dealer Back End “Packing” and Add-ons In addition to financing your car, buyers will be offered or perhaps pressured into purchasing add-ons from a m”menu” that can inflate the profit to the dealer, and give little or no value to the consumer. These add-ons can be “GAP” insurance, credit life insurance, to VIN etching, [...]

Florida, which is in the process of developing an electronic title transfer system (e-title), has petitioned for approval of alternate odometer disclosure requirements. 76 FR 48101.10 Florida requests approval of alternate disclosure requirements for transfers of motor vehicles in transactions between private parties (casual sales), transfers of motor vehicles, whether subject to a lien or [...]

Once again, Clearwater Florida used car dealer ”Florida Cars” has been reincarnated a second time, on eBay after acquiring the eBay ID formerly known as “jimc5768” which had a more favorable reputation/feedback history, dating back to August 22, 2005. Now Florida Cars has assumed a new “clean” eBay identity with which to offer its cars with “clean” titles to unwary [...]

COBB COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) – CBS Atlanta News questioned the current owner of a 1995 Nissan Maxima in Cobb County. The owner is selling the car on Craigslist for $3,500 and with 140,000 miles. He bought the car from a month earlier, and the seller Mr. Smith said he sold the car with 241,000 miles. “It’s been 10 [...]

More than 10 years ago, the Washington Post ran an article about former “crash-test” cars that were being sold by the government after the destructive tests were complete, and were rebuilt and their titles “washed” and resold to unsuspecting consumers. The National Highway Transportation Safety Adminstration (NHTSA) took steps to track down some of these [...]