Judge fines Wichita used car lot $143,000 over vehicle titles, illegal 60-day tags
A Sedgwick County judge has fined a used car dealership that operated on South Broadway $143,379.50 after it was accused of giving car buyers fraudulent temporary tags and withholding their vehicle titles last year.
More than $23,000 is restitution owed to customers who bought vehicles. The rest is civil penalties, court costs and other fees.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office announced the April 26 ruling against Family First Auto LLC in a news release earlier this week.
Attempts to reach the dealership were unsuccessful. A phone number for it wasn’t working this week. Online listings for the business say it is closed permanently. The car lot used to be located at 2005 S. Broadway in Wichita.
The ruling is the latest in a string of civil judgments against Wichita used car dealerships accused of engaging in deceptive business practices, many involving withheld titles and illegal temporary tags.
After receiving complaints from car buyers, the Consumer Protection Division of the DA’s Office alleged in a court filing that Family First Auto didn’t give car titles on time to at least eight customers who bought vehicles in 2021 and handed out or at least offered more temporary 60-day tags than what’s allowed by Kansas law.
In some instances, the dealership ignored customer requests for titles or promised they were in the mail, according to a Dec. 16 petition filed by the DA’s Office.
Withholding titles beyond 60 days of the sale date made the purchases “fraudulent and void,” according to court records.
At least two of the people who bought vehicles from Family First Auto are considered “protected consumers,” meaning they are disabled, veterans, military personnel or over the age of 60, court records show.
Violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act that involve protected consumers can lead to stiffer penalties. In this case, it cost the dealership an extra $20,000.
District Judge William Woolley last month granted a prosecution request for the default judgment after the owner of the dealership failed to appear in court or contest it, his ruling says.
