482.554 - Deceptive trade practices: Acts constituting; administrative fines; certain disclosures required; remedy not exclusive.
482.554 Deceptive trade practices: Acts constituting; administrative fines; certain disclosures required; remedy not exclusive.
1. The Department may impose an administrative fine of not more than $10,000 against any person who engages in a deceptive trade practice. The Department shall afford to any person so fined an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to the provisions of NRS 233B.121.
2. For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be engaged in a “deceptive trade practice” if, in the course of his or her business or occupation, the person:
(a) Enters into a contract for the sale of a vehicle on credit with a customer, exercises a valid option to cancel the vehicle sale and then, after the customer returns the vehicle with no damage other than reasonable wear and tear, the seller:
(1) Fails to return any down payment or other consideration in full, including, returning a vehicle accepted in trade;
(2) Knowingly makes a false representation to the customer that the customer must sign another contract for the sale of the vehicle on less favorable terms; or
(3) Fails to use the disclosure as required in subsection 3.
(b) Uses a contract for the sale of the vehicle or a security agreement that materially differs from the form prescribed by law.
(c) Engages in any deceptive trade practice, as defined in NRS 598.0915 to 598.0925, inclusive, that involves the purchase and sale or lease of a motor vehicle.
(d) Engages in any other acts prescribed by the Department by regulation as a deceptive trade practice.
3. If a seller of a vehicle exercises a valid option to cancel the sale of a vehicle to a customer, the seller must provide a disclosure, and the customer must sign that disclosure, before the seller and customer may enter into a new agreement for the sale of the same vehicle on different terms, or for the sale of a different vehicle. The Department shall prescribe the form of the disclosure by regulation.
4. All administrative fines collected by the Department pursuant to this section must be deposited with the State Treasurer to the credit of the State Highway Fund.
5. The administrative remedy provided in this section is not exclusive and is in addition to any other remedy provided by law. The provisions of this section do not deprive a person injured by a deceptive trade practice from resorting to any other legal remedy.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1240; A 2009, 2527, 2698)