Payless would pay more than $500,000 over document fees under proposed settlement

More than 5,000 Alaskans who bought a car from Payless Used Car Sales are in line for $100 apiece, under a settlement over document fees the state says were missing from the prices it advertised online. Those fees ran about $499.

The state accepted less than full restitution so the settlement would not close the company. "This is the first time my office has had a serious issue with Payless," Acting Attorney General Cori Mills said, and the office has to weigh "whether a stronger settlement is worth putting a significant number of Alaskans out of work," most of whom had nothing to do with it.

Alaska law requires car dealers to build every dealer fee into the advertised price. Payless will pay out more than $500,000 in all, if a judge signs off.

The money reaches back to November 2018, further than the state's six-year limit would normally allow, because Payless agreed to stop the clock while it tried unsuccessfully to throw out an investigative subpoena. Most of the fees at issue were charged before 2024.

The state settled with five Lithia dealerships in December, taking restitution, a $300,000 penalty and advertising audits, and with the Swickard dealerships in March for $800,000, with another $200,000 owed if the conduct continues.

The announcement does not quote Payless or say whether it admits wrongdoing. Once a court approves, the company has 90 days to give the state a final count of who is owed and 280 days to find them and mail the checks. Anyone charged a dealer fee that was not in the advertised price can file a consumer complaint.