San Francisco, CA – Today, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that a network of car dealerships owned, through subsidiaries, by AutoNation, Inc., one of the country’s largest automobile sellers, has been ordered to pay a total of $650,000 to resolve a consumer protection action related to the sale of used vehicles.

“California consumers deserve to know that, when they purchase a car from a licensed dealer, all the transfer paperwork will be submitted in a timely fashion,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “I am pleased that these dealerships made changes that will minimize the number of problems that may arise in the future.”

The payments were ordered as part of a stipulated judgment filed in a lawsuit brought by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and the District Attorneys of Santa Clara, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Riverside Counties. According to the complaint, the 42 AutoNation subsidiaries in this case violated laws related to the timely transfer of registration and ownership of used cars. In California, used car dealers must generally submit to the DMV an application to transfer registration to a buyer within 30 days of the date of sale. That same 30-day deadline applies to the certificate of ownership (“pink slip”). These deadlines may be extended if the DMV returns an application to the dealer because it is missing information.

The AutoNation dealerships cooperated with the District Attorneys’ investigation and quickly took steps to improve their compliance with consumer protection laws. Without admitting liability, they were ordered to pay $450,000 in civil penalties, $150,000 in investigative costs, and $50,000 in contributions to support statewide consumer protection efforts.

As part of the settlement, the defendants agreed to create and enforce a host of polices to ensure that consumers receive registration and ownership paperwork in a timely manner. These include: placing a “stop” on the sale of used vehicles when they do not have title in hand or a clear path to getting it within 30 days; requiring that prior to any sale, a smog check or VIN verification is performed, as necessary; deferring sales commissions on the sale of any used cars that are not capable of timely transfer; having at least 10 employees at all times to process ownership transfers; and ensuring that a designated employee at the level of regional manager or higher is responsible for overall compliance.

Case Number: 25CV457431

###