Oakland County Carvana Dealership's License Suspended For Violations

NOVI, MI — An Oakland County Carvana car dealership had its license suspended by the State of Michigan late last week after it reportedly doing “imminent harm to the public”, state officials said late last week.

State officials said last week in a news release that the Carvana dealership that is located on Novi Road near I-196 committed several violations of the state’s vehicle code. The release said it launched an investigation after several customers reported experiencing title issues with vehicles purchased at the dealership.

The release said the dealership is owned by Paul W. Breaux and state officials claim that the dealership failed to make an application for title within 15 days for 112 customers since it agreed to an earlier probation extension.

In addition, the dealership also committed “fraudulent acts” by selling or dealing in vehicles in which Carvana employees admitted to destroying title applications and other documents that were part of deals including vehicles that were sold to customers and that Carvana took back, the state said.

State officials also said that the dealership failed to maintain odometer records and improperly issued temporary registrations among other violations. A Carvana spokesperson issued a statement to the Detroit Free Press on Monday, denying the allegations.

"We reject the Michigan Secretary of State’s allegations as baseless and reckless and we strongly disagree with the state’s heavy-handed and abrupt effort to shut down a growing Michigan business with tens of thousands of customers over what amounts to technical, paperwork violations involving title and transfer issues," the statement said.

The dealership was under investigation by the state since February 2021 for being non-compliant on multiple occasions, the state said. The Department of State gave the dealership until May of 2021 to correct the issues and was placed on an 18-month probation and assessed a $2,500 fine, the news release said.

After the dealership was found to be in violation of its probation, the probation was extended by six months, and the dealership was fined an additional $5,000, state officials said.

Following the signing of the probation extension, state officials received several no-title complaints from consumers and conducted the investigation that led to the current violations and suspension, the Department of State said.

The department will seek revocation of the dealer's license at an administrative hearing, officials said.

Consumers who have a complaint against Carvana, or who have purchased a vehicle from that dealer and have had problems obtaining the title, are encouraged to call the Office of Investigative Services automotive complaint line at (517) 335-1410.