It shall be unlawful for any motor vehicle repair shop to perform any of the following acts or omissions related to the conduct of the business of the motor vehicle shop, whether done by the owner of the facility, the operator of the business or by any mechanic, employee, partner, officer or member of the motor vehicle repair shop:
(a) making or authorizing in any manner or by any means whatever any statement, written or oral, which is untrue or misleading, and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading;
(b) causing or allowing a customer to sign any work order which does not state the repairs requested or authorized by the customer, and does not state the motor vehicle's odometer reading at the time of repair;
(c) failing or refusing to give a customer a copy of any document requiring his/her signature, as soon as the customer signs such document;
(d) any conduct which constitutes fraud;
(e) any conduct which constitutes gross negligence;
(f) failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter;
(g) any willful departure from or disregard of accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike repair in any material respect, which is prejudicial to a customer, without the prior consent of the customer or his/her duly authorized representative;
(h) making false promises of a character likely to influence, persuade or induce a customer to authorize the repair, service or maintenance of motor vehicles;
(i) having repair work done by someone other than the motor vehicle repair shop without the knowledge and prior consent of the customer, unless the licensee can demonstrate that the customer could not reasonably have been notified;
(j) installing, creating, building or fabricating any false or secret compartment in any motor vehicle. In accordance with Section 4-4-280 of this Code, any licensee who violates this subsection shall be punished for a first offense by a fine of $500.00 and shall have his license suspended for not less than seven days nor more than 14 days; a second or subsequent offense shall be punished by a fine of $1,000.00 and shall result in revocation of the license;
(k) installing or selling any muffler cutout, by- pass, straight pipe or similar device upon a motor vehicle licensed for use on public roads, or installing or selling on any motorcycle licensed for use on public roads any exhaust system or exhaust system component that is not labeled in accordance with Section 205.169 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, indicating that the exhaust system or exhaust system component meets federal noise emission requirements for that model of motorcycle. For purposes of this subsection (k), the term "straight pipe" means an exhaust pipe lacking a muffler;
(l) purchasing from any person any catalytic converter that is not attached to a motor vehicle, or any portion of a dismantled catalytic converter that is reasonably identifiable as such, unless the person from whom such catalytic converter or portion thereof is purchased is: (1) another properly licensed motor vehicle repair shop under Chapter 4-228 of this Code, or (2) a properly permitted Class IVA or Class IVB recycling facility under Chapter 11-4 of this Code, or (3) the original manufacturer of the catalytic converter or portion thereof. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who violates this subsection (l) shall be fined not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $2,000.00 for each offense.
Where the motor vehicle repair shop cannot show there was bona fide error, the commissioner of business affairs and consumer protection may recommend to the mayor the suspension or the revocation of a motor vehicle repair shop license for any of the aforementioned acts or omissions.
(Added Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-16-97, p. 42621; Amend Coun. J. 6-28-00, p. 36845, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 7-26-06, p. 81473, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. V, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. II, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 106; Amend Coun. J. 5-6-15, p. 108540, § 5)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 5-9-12, p. 27485, § 106, renumbered former § 4-228-040 as this § 4-228-215.