The owner of a 蜜柚直播 used-car lot sued by the state for consumer fraud has agreed to repay more than $90,000 to customers who accused him of deceptive business practices.
The out-of-court settlement with Dependable Auto Inc., 723 E. 22nd St., was announced Thursday by the 蜜柚直播 Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
The state was seeking fines of more than $2 million had the case gone to court, records show. The settlement still needs the court鈥檚 approval.
鈥淎uto dealerships cannot charge consumers and fail to provide those services or lie to customers about the terms of their contracts,鈥 Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a news release.
In an interview, company owner Jamal Hardan said he鈥檚 not admitting fault in the case and agreed to the settlement only because he鈥檚 in ill health and tired of fighting with the state consumer protection agency.
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鈥淚 just wanted to finalize it and get it over with,鈥 he said.
The state鈥檚 10-page legal contains a long list of alleged fraudulent business practices at the firm, including:
鈥 Charging customers for third-party service contracts on their vehicles, without actually purchasing the contracts.
鈥 Selling 鈥渟alvage title鈥 vehicles 鈥 those so damaged they were written off as worthless by insurers 鈥 without disclosing the vehicle history.
鈥 Requiring each customer to sign a waiver saying their vehicle was sold to them 鈥渁s is,鈥 which state law does not allow.
鈥 Failing to repair defective vehicles within 15 days or 500 miles, the warranty period required by law.
鈥 Overcharging customers for government and document fees.
State officials are in the process of contacting complainants to claim their share of the settlement money, which will fully reimburse their losses, the agency said.
The car lot continues to operate.
Hardan said Dependable Auto has been in business for 10 years, and about 20 customers have complained to the state during that time.
He said any problems that arose were 鈥渦nintentional鈥 and said he鈥檚 made changes, such as eliminating in-house financing, which was the source of a number of the complaints.
鈥淲e have many happy customers, but some customers aren鈥檛 happy no matter what we do,鈥 he said.
Photos: Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

Homer Thiel, left, from Desert Archaeology works at the site of an archaeological dig just west of the historic Pima County Courthouse on Feb. 13, 2019.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

Researchers look for artifacts at an archaeological dig site just west of the historic Pima County Courthouse on Feb. 13, 2019. Pottery shards from the site are providing new insights into life at the original 蜜柚直播 presidio.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

A drone provides an aerial view of an archaeological dig that was completed in 2019 to make way for construction of the new January 8th Memorial next to the historic Pima County Courthouse.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

Workers dig for artifacts from 蜜柚直播's presidio past ahead of construction of the new January 8th Memorial on the west side of the historic Pima County Courthouse downtown.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

A researcher holds out an artifact unearthed during a 2019 archaeological dig in downtown 蜜柚直播.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

Workers search for artifacts at an archaeological dig west of the historic Pima County Courthouse in 2019.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

A sign marks the location of a long-buried downtown street that was unearthed during an archaeological dig in 2019.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

A trench marks the location of an archaeological dig conducted in 2019 in advance of construction on the new January 8th Memorial downtown.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

A drone photo show progress on a downtown archaeological dig in 2019 that unearthed artifacts from the original 蜜柚直播 presidio.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

During the archaeological dig at the historic Pima County Courthouse, artifacts like this tile fragment from the 1929 courthouse were found.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

These pieces of Mexican majolica pottery were among the artifacts found during an archaeological dig at the historic Pima County Courthouse.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

An archaeological dig at the historic Pima County Courthouse turned up such artifacts as this French-made clay pipe stem.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

This belt buckle was among the artifacts discovered during the archaeological dig in downtown 蜜柚直播 in 2019.
Archeological dig by the Historic County Courthouse

Numerous farm animal bones, mostly from cows, were found during a downtown archaeological dig in 2019 that unearthed artifacts from the original 蜜柚直播 presidio.
Zuni Indian pottery

Researchers believe these pieces of Zuni Indian pottery unearthed from the site of the original 蜜柚直播 presidio may date back to the late 1700s.
Zuni Indian Pottery

Spanish soldiers may have brought Zuni pottery with them to 蜜柚直播 after a 1795 military expedition to what is now northwestern New Mexico.