North Hills Toyota Faces Charges of Mishandling Titles and Registrations

A North Hills car dealership is facing charges related to failures to complete proper paperwork on the deals it makes, including leaving titles open and filing titles late. 

Pennsylvania State Police charged North Hills Toyota, at 7401 McKnight Road, with numerous violations after a dealer audit conducted Jan. 19 found the dealership had failed to submit 107 titles to the Department of Motor Vehicles within the required 20 days after the deals closed, according to the complaint filed in Magisterial District Court 05-2-02. 

The audit also found 10 sales where the titles for vehicles received on trade-ins were left open. State law requires that the signatures of both the seller and buyer be documented simultaneously in front of a notary. 

The auditor also found that "many of the late submissions were due to the vehicle deals not being completed at the time of the purchase. These incomplete deals were then sent to the title clerk who had to finish the deals before they could be submitted to the DMV for processing," according to the court record. 

"This problem was compounded when North Hills Toyota's title clerk quit."

The auditor also found copies of an unofficial form created by the dealership in order to handle the resulting customer complaints. 

"I observed an unofficial dealer created form titled 'Registration not received' which was used due to so many complaints from customers not receiving their registration," the auditor said in the complaint. 

The charges against the dealership include 107 summary offense counts for failing to complete applications for temporary registrations, 107 summary offense counts of failing to handle copies of temporary registration cards properly, 107 summary offense counts for not filing titles on time, and 10 summary offense counts of incomplete assignments of title.

The dealership is also charged with 117 summary offense counts for grounds for disciplinary proceedings—engaging in conduct in connection with the sale of vehicles which clearly demonstrates unprofessional conduct or incompetency to ooperate as a licensee. 

It also faces one felony count for failing to make available for inspection and copying an odometer mileage statement.

General Manager Carlos Echevarria was in a meeting Friday afternoon, staff said, and not available for comment. He did not respond to two phone messages left with staff.

A woman who said she, too, was a manager at the dealership returned the call and said "anything that we have done here has been resolved." 

She declined to give her name. 

The dealership is independently owned by Condor, LLC.

Only one disciplinary action has been taken against the dealership to date, according to the state licensing board, the Pennsylvania State Board of Vehicle Manufacturers, Dealers and Salespersons. The board fined the dealership $500 in July 2009 for employing an unlicensed salesperson, said Ron Ruman, press secretary. 

The Better Business Bureau shows half of the 22 complaints filed against the company through its organization have been filed in the past year, with the most recent filed Jan. 20, 2012. The complaints are a mix related to problems with product and service, and advertising and sales issues.

A preliminary hearing on the charges stemming from the Jan. 19 state police audit is scheduled for March 28 before Judge Richard Opiela.