Florida’s Attorney General is Claiming Violations of Laws Regarding Dealer Advertising

By Micah A. Andrews

Experienced dealers are aware of the pitfalls that can result from a failure to monitor advertising and pricing disclosures to ensure compliance with applicable law. This practice is important for avoiding costly consumer disputes as well as Federal or State enforcement actions. For example, dealers in Florida should remember the letter sent in early 2024 by the Florida Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) to dealers in the state explaining the OAG’s intention to make new efforts to enforce advertising and pricing regulations in Florida. While the OAG has always had the legal ability to bring compliance actions on behalf of the State of Florida, the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) has previously been the agency dealers most likely interacted with related to their activity and OAG enforcement actions were rare.

However, with its early 2024 letter, the OAG put dealers on notice of its intent to monitor advertising, particularly on the internet and social media, related to the disclosure of vehicle prices. The letter stated a desire to remind dealers of the “legal obligations regarding inclusion of fees or add-on costs in motor vehicle price advertisements… Florida law requires that if a vehicle price is advertised the vehicle must be identified by year, make, model, and a commonly accepted trade, brand, or style name… [f]urther ‘the advertised price must include all fees or charges that the customer must pay, including freight or destination charge, dealer preparation charge, and charges for undercoating or rustproofing.’” 

The OAG previously indicated that it would give dealers until September 1, 2024 to ensure compliance with these regulations. Based on its monitoring of this situation, BSM is aware that the OAG has now begun communicating with dealers who it has identified as having alleged instances of non-compliance with advertising regulations. So far, these reviews appear to be triggered by an instance of a customer complaint, not a systematic review of all dealers. How soon the OAG will escalate these communications into filed legal enforcement actions remains to be seen. However, Florida dealers would be wise to closely review their advertising practices going into 2025 so as to avoid issues.  The OAG has specifically identified issues they are attempting to address as:

• Advertisements that contain a vehicle price but have removed from that price amounts like required down payments, mandatory purchase packages, or other dealership required cost that are unrelated to taxes or titling amounts.

• Advertisements that bold or otherwise emphasize a price that is not the actual total purchase price that would be charged to a consumer;

• Advertisements that present a price and have an asterisk, footnote, or link that discloses additional fees or charges that will be due in addition to the advertised amount, 

• Advertisements that require a consumer to scroll or go to another page from an advertised price to learn that there are fees and charges due in addition to the advertised price.

Notably, fees required by local law that do not represent cost or profit to the dealerships, like local taxes, tag, registration fees, and title fees, do not have to be disclosed in advertised pricing and the OAG has acknowledged this. Any questions regarding these compliance obligations or advertising practices should be directed to your experienced motor vehicle dealer attorney.