Class Calls Nissan Dealer Predatory Lender

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (CN) - A Nissan dealer preyed upon bankrupt people by identifying them through public records, then sending them a "detachable $1,000 check" with deceptive come-ons, telling them they had been "pre-approved" for a special "Bankruptcy Discharge Program," a class action claims in Somerset County Court.

Plaintiffs say North Plainfield Nissan's Bankruptcy Discharge Program violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, that its targets had not been "pre-approved" for loans, and that after being "lured" to the dealership by the $1,000 "check," the people who had received bankruptcy discharge papers were subjected to "a host of predatory practices that were both contrary to the promises made in the advertisement and in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act."

Named plaintiffs, a young couple, say the Nissan mailers "contained numerous facial violations" of state laws, including "small-print disclaimers that qualified, and were contrary to, the large-print representations made in the advertisement".

The Feltynowskis claim that North Plainfield Nissan lured them in with the phony "check," then sold them a new car for $34,160, before taxes, and added $3,200 in options by insisting "the markup was a necessary condition of their loan."

"To induce the purchase, Defendant falsely promised to provide the Feltynowskis with refinancing to lower their [$687.33] monthly payments in one year, and provided them with some cash 'under the table' to help make the payments until then," the complaint states. "After the one year period, Defendant failed to provide the promised refinancing, leaving the Feltynowskis with an unaffordable car payments [sic] and at risk of default and repossession."

When Nissan sold them the car, Mrs. Feltynowski was making $24,000 a year and her husband was on unemployment, the complaint states.

Plaintiffs demand punitive damages. They are represented by Galex Wolfe of North Brunswick.

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