Wichita used car dealer’s title problems violated consumer protection law, DA says

A Wichita businessman and his used car dealership have agreed to pay nearly $10,700 after the district attorney’s office alleged consumer protection violations connected to the sale of a van worth about $2,850.

Mohammad Lahowk, doing business as H&R Auto Sales, entered into the consent judgment in Sedgwick County District Court on May 6, District Attorney Marc Bennett announced Tuesday in a news release.

The business is not registered with the Kansas Secretary of State, though H&R Auto Sales is a licensed dealership through the Kansas Department of Revenue. Lahowk is the owner and the only licensed dealer at the business, located at 1400 N. Market Suite B.

The consumer protection division of the district attorney’s office detailed the facts of the case in court documents, though Lahowk did not admit to the allegations.

In April 2020, Lahowk sold a 2006 Honda Odyssey to a Wichita woman for about $2,850, the DA’s office said. The customer made a $300 down payment, and Lahowk credited her $600 for two non-operational trade-in vehicles. The woman paid the remaining balance two days after paying the initial money.

A month later, when she had yet to receive the title, the woman filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office. She received the title about two weeks later, but it did not have Lahowk’s signature.

The customer filed a second complaint in February. After an investigator called, Lahowk agreed to sign the title.

When he signed the title, he also placed a lien on it, 10 months after selling the vehicle. Lahowk claimed the customer owed him $400, but he provided no proof of the debt to the investigator. He then signed a lien release the same day.

Under Kansas law, failure to deliver a title within 60 days renders the transaction fraudulent and void. The DA’s office alleged Lahowk engaged in an “unconscionable act and practice.”

Lahowk, in court documents, said he did not intentionally violate the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. He claimed that the customer had lied about the trade-in vehicles, and he would not have bought them for trade-ins if he had known they weren’t working. He also claimed he immediately corrected the title issues when the customer asked him to.

As part of the investigation, the customer provided the DA’s lawyers with text messages from Lahowk where he accused her of signing his name to the title.

Lahowk denied that he violated the law and did not admit to the allegations, but he voluntarily agreed to signed a consent judgment. The order permanently enjoins him from engaging in deceptive or unconscionable acts with used car sales.

He agreed to a 12-month probationary period with the DA’s office and to pay a total of $10,697. That amount includes $197 in court costs, $500 to reimburse investigative fees and expenses and a $10,000 civil penalty to the county general fund.

Lahowk could potentially get back $9,500 of the penalty, which will be held in abeyance, if no new consumer protection violations are reported during the probationary period.

This was not the first time that Lahowk was taken to civil court over consumer protection allegations.

In 2018, Lahowk admitted to violating the Kansas Consumer Protection Act when he failed to provide legal title and employed an unlicensed salesperson. The investigation also found that Lahowk and H&R Auto Sales had been advertising vehicles on Craigslist without saying they’re being sold by a dealership, which is against the law in Kansas.