FTC Consent Order Requires Spanish-Language TILA Disclosures in Spanish-Language Advertisements

A Texas auto dealer recently settled an administrative complaint filed by the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, which alleged important terms in Spanish-language ads were disclosed only in English in fine print at the bottom of the advertisements.  Among other things, the consent agreement requires the auto dealer to “use diction and syntax understandable to ordinary consumers” in future advertisements, including using Spanish in required TILA disclosures if the ad itself appears in Spanish.

The FTC’s complaint alleged that the auto dealer ran full-page Spanish-language ads claiming that consumers could buy or lease a vehicle at certain favorable terms, but that material limitations to those terms were provided only in fine-print English at the bottom of the ads. The complaint further claimed that the dealerships violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting that: no down payment was required; low monthly payments were available to consumers who financed their purchases; and certain advertised interest rates and terms were available to consumers with bad credit.  Among the alleged TILA violations, the complaint claimed the advertisements “failed to disclose, or to disclose clearly and conspicuously” the: amount or percentage of the down payment; repayment obligations over the full term of the loan; and the APR.

The auto dealer neither admitted nor denied the aforementioned allegations.  However, the consent order subjects the company to a host of ongoing compliance and record-keeping requirements for the next 15 years.  The consent order is available here.