Car dealer arrested, fined in title flap

A Sedgwick County car dealer was arrested and had an earlier fine more than doubled after failing to pay a judgment for selling customers cars they couldn’t legally drive, officials said Monday.

Justin Blevins was ordered on Friday to pay an extra $1,000 for failing to pay an earlier $861 in fines and court costs stemming from consumer complaints filed in December, said Avery Elofsson, chief of the Sedgwick County district attorney’s consumer protection division.

A consent judgment had concluded that Blevins’ dealership sold cars to 21 customers but failed to convey the titles within 60 days, as state law requires, Elofsson said.

When that doesn’t happen, the consumers are stuck in a “Catch-22,” he said. “They don’t have their money, and they can’t legally drive their car.”

All 21 car buyers have now received their titles, Elofsson said.

The now-defunct Blevins Auto Sales operated from two locations: 100 E. Ross in Clearwater and 3407 W. Maple in Wichita.

Blevins said the title issues arose from a dispute with two lending companies that had loaned him the money to buy the vehicles at auction.

“They were charging us fees and fees and fees, and a lot of the fees they were charging were fraudulent fees that weren’t included in the contract I signed,” Blevins said. He said he tried to find a lawyer to challenge the fees but couldn’t afford one.

“Just another sad story of a small businessman who doesn’t have deep pockets,” he said.

Blevins waived all claims of ownership of the disputed vehicles, clearing the way for the district attorney’s office to demand the titles from the finance companies, Elofsson said.

Blevins owed a $500 fine plus $197 in court costs and $164 in investigation costs on the original consent judgment due Jan. 27. A bench warrant was issued, and he was arrested after he failed to show up for a court appearance to explain why he hadn’t paid it by April, Elofsson said.

That led to Friday’s hearing, in which the judge fined Blevins the additional $1,000, Elofsson said.

Blevins said he “overlooked the mail” and “didn’t realize I’d gotten summoned to court.”

He said he owned the business for five years and it turned a profit until “everything went south” last year.

Blevins said he’s out of the car sales business permanently and has entered a payment plan to pay off his fines.

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Car dealer arrested, fined in title flap."