Bait and Switch

Dealers will sometimes advertise the sale of a low priced repossessed or used home to get people to the lot, then qualify them for a higher priced new home instead. Nancy Richardson of San Antonio called the number on a newspaper ad for a repossessed home, and the number connected her with a dealership. After touring the available repossessed homes, she selected one, filled out a credit application and left $500. The following week she called back. "Al told me he had not heard on the repo yet, but he had run an application for a new home and I was approved." Ms. Richardson insisted she was only interested in the repo. The next day she visited the lot and viewed the new home approved for her, but insisted she did not want a new home. A day after her visit, the dealership told her that her credit application for the lower cost repossessed home had been denied.

"I feel like this whole thing is a scam and they use these repos to bait you and then reel you into a new home," she told the AG. "I will not be forced into buying a new home with higher payments than I can afford." (1)

A former employee of a dealership in San Antonio filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that the dealership ran deceptive bait-and-switch ads for a non-existent home in Leon Valley. The ads referenced non-existent sales people, and when consumers called they were told that those salesmen were out but someone would call them back. Then, a real sales person would invite the consumer to see three homes, none of them the non-existent home in the advertisement, and pressure the consumer to select one. (2)

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1 Complaint to Office of the Attorney General, filled 3/6/01, San Antonio, Texas. Also survey response confirming satisfaction with AG asistance.

2 Complaint to Office of the Attorney General, filled 4/26/00 San Antonio, Texas