State revokes license of used car dealer in Spokane

May 6-A small used car dealership on East Sprague Avenue has lost its license to do business after several customers complained that they purchased cars there without receiving the corresponding titles of ownership.

Motorcars of Spokane owner Chris Grey operates the business at 1521 E. Sprague Ave., or at least he did until May 1.

On Tuesday, Thomas Charlson, spokesperson for the Washington state Department of Licensing, said that the state terminated Grey's license to operate the dealership on May 1, but not because of the customer complaints about the problematic title transfers.

Charlson noted that the state has a law that requires car dealers to maintain a surety bond of $30,000.

"They recently had their surety bond canceled by the vendor," Charlson said. "That led us to terminate their dealer's license. We did give them an opportunity to come into compliance, but they failed to do so."

While the website showed the business open, a visit Wednesday afternoon to the business found only six cars left on the lot and nobody answered the business's door.

Owner Chris Grey later responded to a phone message to say that he does have a bond but he's trying to determine whether or not to restart the business.

Charlson also noted that the state agency has nine open investigations, mostly from customers who claimed that they purchased cars from Grey but never received the corresponding titles.

Asked about why he refused to transfer the titles, Grey blamed the situation on the Washington state Department of Motor Vehicles.

"That's just going through the DMV. It takes up to 45 days" to transfer title, he said. "Some people are requesting their titles before 45 days. That's where some of the complaints are coming from."

Kerry Brock contacted the newspaper and said he purchased a car from Grey in January and paid for the vehicle in full. But, Brock said he never received the title.

Asked why Brock would still be waiting for the title, Grey responded: "Because we never received the title. When we get a title in, we transfer it."

But two other customers, Tom Sorrentino and Aricka Foley, both wrote business reviews saying that they, too, suffered the same fate as Brock. Neither received titles, they wrote.

"I would stay clear of this place unless you want to be completely ripped off," Foley wrote, in part.

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