August 2017 - Greater Cincinnati Automobile Dealers Association

Kicking Off Child Passenger Safety Month at Kings Island

Kings Island Fire & Safety Days

This weekend, August 25-27, Kings Island is celebrating fire and police personnel who keep our communities safe by offering them free admission to the park. We will once again be in Planet Snoopy to kick of National Child Passenger Safety! Stop by our booth Friday 4:00-8:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am-2:00pm  to learn about keeping children as safe as possible on every trip, and to sign up to win one of 12 Evenflo safety seats!

As a child grows, their safest seating arrangement will change from a rear-facing to a forward-facing 5 point harness, to a belt positioning booster, and finally to a seat belt. This year’s theme stresses the importance of waiting until the child has reached the top height and weight limit of their safety seat before changing their configuration. 

Moving a child to a forward-facing configuration before they are ready, or out of a booster seat before they are big enough, puts them at risk of injury in the event of an automobile accident. Our message is simple: kid’s grow up fast enough. When it comes to their safety, don’t rush it!

To help get the word out, we have once again partnered with our friends at Evenflo and Cincinnati Children’s to film a public service announcement that will air around the Tri-State area. In addition, we will be attending several safety days and car seat check events, and signing up entrants for our annual car seat giveaway. To kick it off we’ll be at King’s Island hanging out in Planet Snoopy–stop by to talk to us and sign up, or register online here!

Win an Evenflo car seat during Child Passenger Safety Month!

Fort Mitchell Fire Department Receives CPR Training Manikins

As part of its year-round public safety initiative, the Greater Cincinnati Automobile Dealers Association (GCADA) presented the Fort Mitchel Fire Department with four CPR training manikins. GCADA Member Jake Sweeney FIAT Alfa Romeo sponsored the donation.

“These manikins will be used to provide training in the proper use of CPR & AED,” said Fire Chief Gary Auffart. “Having someone on hand to properly administer CPR can make all the difference in whether a victim survives cardiac arrest.”

Jake Sweeney FIAT Alfa Romeo presented the Fire Department with a set of four Laerdal Resusci Anne® training manikins, which simulate realistic anatomy to prepare trainees for emergency situations.

Cardiac arrest claims thousands of lives each year, and victim’s often die before reaching the hospital. Combined use of CPR and AED can increase a victim’s chance of survival by up to 80%.

Dealer Members of the GCADA, in co-operation with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Foundation, have the opportunity to provide CPR training manikins to Greater Cincinnati area non-profit organizations, hospitals, police, fire departments, schools and local Red Cross chapters.

Across the country, automobile dealerships have provided an estimated 4,600 manikins worth approximately $3 million, for training of over 2 million people, potentially saving thousands of lives.

Alignment Issues

By Nora R. Udell*

Although Spot Delivery is a publication for “car folks,” the alignment in the title of this article has nothing to do with a car and everything to do with your sale and financing documents. Every so often a case pops up where there is a misalignment between the software and the hardware that a dealer uses to populate the specifics of a retail installment sale contract. The misalignment can mean the difference between a RISC that’s compliant with the Truth in Lending Act and a non-compliant RISC. Here’s the latest.

Elisa Franco bought a car from A Better Way Wholesale Autos, Inc., under a retail installment sale contract. The RISC included a $60 charge for vendor’s single interest insurance that was disclosed as part of the amount financed. After the sale, Franco sued Better Way, claiming that it violated the Truth in Lending Act by failing to accurately disclose the finance charge. Franco argued that Better Way should have disclosed the premium for vendor’s single interest insurance as part of the finance charge, instead of as part of the amount financed. TILA provides that charges for property insurance do not constitute finance charges and do not need to be disclosed as finance charges when “a clear and specific statement in writing is furnished by the creditor to the person to whom credit is extended setting forth the cost of insurance if obtained from or through the creditor, and stating that the person to whom the credit is extended may choose the person through which the insurance is to be obtained.” The trial court granted summary judgment to Franco. Better Way appealed and argued there was an issue of material fact regarding whether the premium was properly excluded from the finance charge.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the trial court’s ruling in favor of Franco. Better Way argued that it provided Franco with sufficient notice under TILA to exclude the premium from the finance charge. The financing agreement contained a VSI provision with a checkbox, and that provision stated that VSI insurance was required, the premium amount, and that Franco could choose her insurance company. However, the appellate court found that Better Way did not comply with the TILA notice requirement because the VSI provision was not properly checked. While there was an “XX” indicator in the general vicinity of the VSI provision, it was not close enough for a reasonable jury to conclude that the box was checked. Further, if there was ambiguity about whether the box was checked, it could not constitute a “clear and specific” disclosure, as required by TILA. The court disagreed with Better Way’s argument that the provision provided notice that VSI insurance was required, even if the box was unchecked.

If your documents are experiencing a misalignment problem, it may be time for a repair – before the problem results in harm to your customers or to you.

Franco v. A Better Way Wholesale Autos, Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8689 (2d Cir. (D. Conn.) May 18, 2017).

*Nora R. Udell is an associate in the Maryland office of Hudson Cook, LLP. She can be reached at 410.782.2321 or by email at nudell@hudco.com.

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Spot Delivery®.  Reprinted with express permission from CounselorLibrary.com.