Used-Car Dealer Faces Charges in DMV Probe
Last month, H&J; Auto Sales in Reseda placed a large ad in a Valley shopper with this headline: “Valley Auto Dealer Prevents Used Car Ripoffs.”
Investigators with the state Department of Motor Vehicles noticed the advertisement and filed it away with the many consumer complaints against the used-car dealership.
Tony Beatrici, a DMV inspector, said the complaints had triggered an investigation of the dealership that culminated this week with the filing of 15 misdemeanor counts against the auto dealer, Mark Alicki, 27. Alicki is charged with failing to transfer ownership papers to 15 people who bought cars from him, beginning in July, 1984, Beatrici said.
Without a title or registration papers, the people who bought cars from Alicki technically do not own their cars. The DMV has been issuing them temporary permits so that they can use their cars, but they cannot resell the cars or buy insurance--which is required under California law--without titles.
The victims, said Phil Chlopek, a DMV senior investigator, “have got a car but that’s all they’ve got.”
Ellen Eckard of Canoga Park, who bought a 1969 Chevelle from H&J; in March with $1,200 cash, said she has not been able to obtain car insurance, so rarely uses the car. After talking with people at the car dealership several times, she finally complained to the DMV.
DMV investigators declined to speculate on a motive for Alicki’s conduct, but they said dealerships that employ such tactics often do so because of poor management or a cash-flow problem. Dealerships collect licensing fees earmarked for the DMV from their customers.
Besides filing the misdemeanor counts, the DMV has ordered Alicki to close his dealership next Friday until an administrative hearing is held 30 days later to determine whether the dealer’s license should be suspended or revoked. The temporary suspension was prompted by Alicki’s refusal to allow DMV investigators to inspect business records pertinent to the criminal case, Chlopek said.
Business at the dealership, at 7400 and 7455 Reseda Blvd., is conducted in a bright yellow-and-orange building surrounded by dozens of matching pennants and flags. The dealership sells domestic and foreign cars ranging in cost from a few hundred dollars to $12,000, according to the DMV. The car lot has been the target of complaints from neighbors, who contend that Alicki parks his cars on residential streets, Chlopek said.
Investigation Continuing
A woman who answered the phone at the dealership on Friday said Alicki could not be reached for comment.
Chlopek, who said the DMV’s investigation of Alicki is continuing, would not comment on the H&J; advertisement in which Alicki and his brother, who is not an owner, claimed that the dealership had “turned the used auto industry around” and attracted the attention of other dealers.
“The large new car agencies are talking, wondering and definitely taking note of the brothers’ new approach,” said the ad, which was in the form of a newspaper story.
