WIN Opens Nominations for MIW Awards

In other words, the defendants are prohibited from charging different groups different markups. That provision addresses the FTC concern that Passport was using the discretionary markup rate to discriminate against consumers on the basis of race and ethnicity.

There’s a lot for other companies to glean from the FTC action against Passport.

Conduct an ECOA compliance check. This is the latest in a series of recent FTC actions to enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. ECOA has been the law of the land for almost 50 years and businesses have no excuse for continuing pernicious practices that violate the statute.

Corporate officers: The buck stops with you. In addition to naming corporate entities, the complaint named in their individual capacities Passport’s owner, Everett A. Hellmuth III, and Jay Klein, vice president of seven of the Passportrelated companies. The complaint explained in detail their involvement in the conduct challenged as illegal and alleged Passport didn’t take appropriate corrective measures even when possible law violations were called to their attention.

For example, according to the FTC, “Despite these multiple emails and text messages informing them of Passport’s practice of charging consumers bogus fees, Hellmuth and Klein have allowed the practice to continue.”

Furthermore, Passport received letters from finance companies raising “statistically significant differences in the markup rates charged to Black borrowers at two separate Passport dealerships,” but the FTC said Passport “took no steps to modify its discretionary markup policy or practice.”

When implementing corporate policies, practices—not paper— are what matters. According to Passport’s written policy, any deviations from the standard markup had to be recorded on a certification form, signed by the sales person and reviewed by another employee. The written policy also required random monitoring of credit offers and periodic audits of credit sales.

Sounds good on paper, but the FTC said Passport didn’t walk the walk. A document that looks nice in a file folder won’t paper over illegal practices on the sales floor.

Discriminatory conduct can be “unfair.” In addition to alleging Passport’s discriminatory finance practices violate ECOA, the FTC alleged the practices were unfair under the FTC Act. That makes sense.

Passport’s discriminatory conduct injured Black and Latino consumers’ wallets: They paid more than White consumers to finance their car. They couldn’t reasonably avoid being charged more by Passport. The FTC said Passport didn’t disclose the markups and didn’t tell the truth about the fees. And the practice of charging those consumers more doesn’t yield countervailing benefits.

— Source: FTC

NEW PODCAST

Launching Jan 2023

TUNE IN!

The Most Influential Women (MIW) awards, presented annually by the Women’s Industry Network (WIN), are among the most prestigious honors bestowed in the collision repair industry.

Nominations for the 2023 MIW awards opened Nov. 1 and will be accepted through Jan. 6.

Nominations of women working in any segment of the collision repair industry across the U.S. and Canada are welcome, and the recipients will be recognized at the annual WIN Educational Conference, scheduled for May 1-3, 2023, in San Antonio, TX.

Nominees are reviewed and interviewed by an independent selection committee, and are selected based on established criteria, including industry influence, professional accomplishments, mentorship and community service.

More information is at bit.ly/ MIWnominees

— Source: WIN

Diesel and Collision Part Experts

FREE