Flagstaff, Ariz. • The Federal Trade Commission is accusing an auto group in the U.S. Southwest of using deceptive and unlawful practices to sell vehicles to Navajos.
The complaint against Tate's Auto Group, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Arizona, says the company falsified consumers' monthly income and down payments on financing applications and contracts without them knowing. The complaint also says the company used deceptive advertising.
It's part of a push by the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission to protect Navajo consumers. The commission has been collecting information from tribal members about business practices in towns that border the reservation, which spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.