Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a lawsuit against a used car dealership in the state for failing to provide titles to buyers, according to a statement released by the attorney general’s office on Friday. The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for a state fund used to help used car buyers resolve title problems.
Yost filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Worldwide Auto Sales on Tuesday after receiving complaints from around 80 Ohio residents. The suit accuses the company, operating as Cincinnati Auto Wholesale, of failing to deliver vehicle titles and warranties to its customers, as well as misrepresenting details of the sale. It also alleges engagement in “unfair and deceptive acts,” according to a statement from Yost’s office.
The company “displayed for sale and sold used motor vehicles without obtaining a certificate of title for the vehicles in their name, and without possessing a bill of sale for each motor vehicle displayed, offered for sale, or sold,” according to the suit.
The Loveland-based company, which was owned by Anthony Blevins and Charles Reynolds, is no longer in operation.
Yost slammed the company in a Friday statement.
“Innocent people were taken for a ride of lies and deception,” Yost said. “People who do business like that better buckle up, because the next stop is justice.”
Yost’s suit is seeking reimbursement for the Title Defect Recision fund, which is used to make payments to buyers who were not given proper title within 40 days after a vehicle’s purchase. The attorney general’s office has made more than $226,000 in payments from the fund.
In addition to reimbursement for the fund, the lawsuit is also seeking declaratory relief, injunctive relief and civil penalties.
The suit was filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
Read the full lawsuit here.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter with The Ohio Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair.
