Furniture Store Fined $39,400 in False Advertising Case

A Northridge-based furniture store chain has been ordered to pay $39,400 in civil penalties for false advertising, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Thursday.

Leslie Hanke, deputy district attorney for the consumer protection division, said the Halls Furniture Co., which took over the lease of two RB Furniture buildings last July in Northridge and Glendora, used promotional signs claiming a liquidation sale it was holding had been approved by a bankruptcy court.

“Saying it’s bankruptcy court-approved lends validity and credibility to a sale,” Hanke said. “It makes people think they’re getting a really good deal.”

Halls was ordered to pay $35,000 in penalties and $4,400 in costs as part of a lawsuit alleging false advertising for the sale, which began in September, 1992, and lasted at least two months, Hanke said.

During the sale, a promotional banner hung on the storefront of the Northridge location of Halls Furniture just under the old RB Furniture sign, Hanke said. The signs falsely implied that the Halls stores were RB stores liquidating merchandise. For example, the one in Northridge read: “RB Furniture Bankruptcy Court Approved Lease Assumption Sale . . . Final Liquidation.”

Joel Heller, one of the owners of Halls Furniture, said the company would not comment on the case.

Ironically, RB Furniture had been accused of similar activities, and in July, 1992, had paid $140,000 in fines for misleading the public about its sale merchandise.

“It struck us as pretty brazen to ride like that on the coattails of the RB bankruptcy, which had quite a lot of publicity,” Hanke said.

The Consumer Protection Division of the district attorney’s office was alerted to Halls Furniture’s activities by someone in the furniture business, Hanke said.