The California Department of Justice alleged that Paul Blanco’s Good Car Company aired deceptive radio and television advertisements, targeted subprime credit consumers with false promises, falsified information to lenders, and tricked customers into purchasing option add-on products.

Through a judgment entered on November 7, 2022, Paul Blanco’s Good Car Company Auto Group admitted to 670,000 violations of California’s Unfair Competition and False Advertising Laws.  To resolve the lawsuit, Paul Blanco’s companies agreed to a $20 million judgment, and the Blancos agreed to a further $7.5 million judgment individually.  As part of the settlement, the dealerships admitted to publishing 650,000 false advertisements, defrauding auto lenders by misrepresenting vehicle values on 20,000 occasions, and deceiving consumers regarding add-on products. In addition, Mr. Blanco admitted to creating and publishing a false advertising campaign in violation of the Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.

A Hemming Morse team, led by Greg Regan and Max Cranmer, provided advisory services to evaluate the alleged violations.  The team utilized big-data tools and techniques to collect, clean, analyze, and interpret large structured and unstructured datasets.  Their customized approach and detailed evaluation resulted in the identification and quantification of alleged violations.

For more information about the judgment see the Attorney General’s press release here.