26-239-104 Me. Code R. § 2

Current through 2025-03, January 15, 2025

Section 239-104-2 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

A.General prohibition against unfair and deceptive advertising. These advertising rules are issued pursuant to the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act ( 5 M.R.S.A. §207). All motor vehicle advertising by dealers, whether printed or broadcast, shall be in plain language, with disclosures of material facts that are clear and conspicuous and non-deceptive. By way of example and not of limitation, the following are in violation of this rule:

1. direct statements or reasonable inferences that have the tendency to mislead consumers;

2. advertising whose overall impression has the tendency to mislead consumers;

3. disclaimers that contradict, confuse or unreasonably limit or significantly alter a principal message of an advertisement;

4. the failure to make clear and conspicuous disclosures of limitations, disclaimers, qualifications, conditions, exclusions or restrictions;

5. statements susceptible to both a misleading and a truthful interpretation; and

6. deceptive statements, even though the true facts are subsequently made known to the consumer.

B.Enforcement not limited. The fact that a particular advertising practice is not expressly referred to in these rules does not limit the Attorney General's authority to take legal action with respect to that practice under the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act ( 5 M.R.S.A. §207).

C.Complaints not necessary. An advertisement may be deceptive even though no consumer has complained about it.

D.Selling in accordance with advertised terms. A dealer shall not refuse to sell a motor vehicle in accordance with any terms or conditions which the dealer has advertised; except that it will not be considered a violation of this subsection where either:

1. the dealer can document that the advertised term was the result of an error on the part of the advertising medium or an outside advertising agent, or

2. the error was made in good faith by the dealer and was clearly and conspicuously a mistake (e.g., a vehicle advertised at "$1,000" rather than "$10,000"), and

3. the dealer corrected the error as soon as it knew or reasonably should have known of it.

E.Responsibility for advertising. The dealer is responsible for knowing the law as it applies to advertising and is ultimately responsible for its advertising product. This does not preclude a finding that parties other than the dealer are also liable for a deceptive ad.

F.Disclosure of material facts. Any disclosures about material facts which are contained in advertisements and which involve types of motor vehicles and transactions must be made in a clear and conspicuous manner to minimize the possibility of misunderstanding by the audience.

G.Sale price available to all. Advertised vehicles shall be offered at or below the advertised price regardless of whether the customer has actually seen the advertised price prior to the sale, unless the ad clearly and conspicuously discloses that a customer must bring the ad to the dealer in order to receive the sale price, and the sale price is not given to anyone who does not do so.

26-239 C.M.R. ch. 104, § 2