Central Ohio car dealerships accused of withholding vehicle titles, altering odometers
The lawsuits — one filed in Franklin County and the other in Delaware County — accuse each dealership of violating Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act, the Certificate of Motor Vehicles Act, and the Odometer Rollback and Disclosure Act.
The suit filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court accuses Johnathan Paul Kirkham, operator of Kirkham's Starfleet Cars, 525 N Sandusky St. in Delaware city, of failing to properly transfer titles to consumers who bought vehicles from the dealership.
According to Yost, there are 32 title-related complaints in connection with Starfleet, and the state will use $138,135 from the state's Title Defect Recission Fund to reimburse eligible consumers while the Attorney General's Office pursues legal action against Kirkham's.
Way 2 Go Auto Sales, 4660 Cleveland Ave. Columbus, operated by Kofi Bimpeh, is accused of failing to provide vehicle titles, altering odometer readings, and misrepresenting rebuilt salvage vehicles in a lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The Attorney General's office reports they received 20 complaints related to title issues, misrepresentations about salvage vehicles, return policy issues and odometer discrepancies with vehicles.
Way 2 Go Auto Sales and Kirkham's Starfleet Cars could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Listed phone numbers for both dealerships appeared to be disconnected.
'Ohioans work hard and deserve to get what they pay for,' Yost said in a prepared release. 'Whether it's a deliberate title delay or outright fraud, my office will pump the breaks on dealership scams.'
smeighan@dispatch.com
@ShahidMeighan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio AG Dave Yost files lawsuits against central Ohio car dealerships
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(A) Non-GAAP MeasuresThe non-GAAP measures used in this news release, including Net Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS® Accounting Standards and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. These non-GAAP measures are more fully defined and discussed in the Company's MD&A for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2025 under the heading 'Non-GAAP measures', which is incorporated by reference in this Press Release and available on SEDAR+ at Real Matters financial results for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2025 are included in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying MD&A, each of which are available on SEDAR+ at In addition, supplemental information is available on our website at Net Revenue represents the difference between revenues and transaction costs. 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Words such as 'could', 'forecast', 'target', 'may', 'will', 'would', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'intend', 'plan', 'seek', 'believe', 'likely' and 'predict' and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information contains these identifying words. The forward-looking information in this Press Release includes statements which reflect the current expectations of management with respect to our business and the industry in which we operate and is based on management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that management believes appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. The forward-looking information reflects management's beliefs based on information currently available to management, including information obtained from third party sources, and should not be read as a guarantee of the occurrence or timing of any future events, performance or results. The forward-looking information in this Press Release is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or results anticipated by the forward-looking information. A comprehensive discussion of the factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations can be found in the 'Risk Factors' section of our Annual Information Form for the year ended September 30, 2024, which is available on SEDAR+ at Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which reflect our expectations only as of the date of this Press Release. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Real MattersReal Matters is a leading network management services provider for the mortgage lending and insurance industries. Real Matters' platform combines its proprietary technology and network management capabilities with tens of thousands of independent qualified field professionals to create an efficient marketplace for the provision of mortgage lending and insurance industry services. Our clients include top 100 mortgage lenders in the U.S. and some of the largest banks and insurance companies in Canada. We are a leading independent provider of residential real estate appraisals to the mortgage market and a leading independent provider of title services in the U.S. Headquartered in Markham (ON), Real Matters has principal offices in Buffalo (NY) and Middletown (RI). Real Matters is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol REAL. For more information, visit For more information:Lyne Beauregard Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate CommunicationsReal Matterslbeauregard@ 416.994.5930Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
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