Model Agency Boss Fined Over Deceptive Job Ads

A Municipal Court judge Tuesday ordered the head of a modeling agency to pay $22,000 in restitution to 45 modeling job applicants who replied to misleading advertisements in San Diego newspapers.

Judge Ronald Domnitz also ordered Allen Neumann, president of New York West modeling agency, to pay $3,500 in fines. Neumann entered a plea of no-contest to false advertising charges and agreed to pay the fines and restitution.

Deputy City Atty. James D. Bivens charged that Neumann placed the misleading ads in the San Diego Union and Tribune “Help Wanted” sections between June 6, 1985, and Aug. 21, 1986. The ads, in part, read: “New Faces to fill modeling jobs, with No Fee. No Portfolio Required.”

A number of those who answered the ads later complained to the city’s Consumer Fraud Unit that they had to pay $20 to $30 for “test” photo fees and $800 to $900 to buy portfolios from the agency. They said they received no modeling jobs after paying the fees.

After the complaints, an investigation of the firm, based in Newport Beach, was launched by the Consumer Fraud Unit. Interviews with former employees of the modeling agency’s San Diego office revealed that they were trained to sell portfolios, on commission, to applicants, Bivens said.

As part of the probe, city investigator Kathleen A. Brice applied to the agency for a modeling job.

Neumann, contacted by a reporter Tuesday at his Newport Beach office, admitted that the advertisements were misleading. He said he placed the ads to read “No Fee. No Portfolio” because classified advertising personnel for the two papers asked that he specify whether there were fees and portfolios required for participation in the modeling program.

Neumann said he told the ad takers that applicants would be required to pay a 15% “commission” on income received from modeling jobs but that this “commission” did not constitute a fee.

When asked why he simply didn’t have the ads state that applicants would have to pay a 15% fee, Neumann said: “I was stupid, that’s why.”

Neumann maintained his innocence, and said he did not fight the charges because legal costs and a trial would have damaged his business. He defended his agency, saying the company has been in business for nearly 10 years and has other offices in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

However, he acknowledged that the agency’s policies have made it the target of complaints from other people, and that it has faced civil court actions over similar practices, at the same time he denied wrongdoing.

“We have a very good reputation,” he said. “We see an average of 5,000 applicants a year, at least, and we receive these 45 complaints.”