Red Rock Auto Group under State and local investigation

UPDATE: 

By SAM KLOMHAUS Sam.Klomhaus@gjsentinel.com Aug 11, 2023

A former Red Rock GMC finance manager has been charged with forgery, criminal impersonation and identity theft after being accused of impersonating customers in phone calls and bank documents.

Tiffany Miller, 36, of Montrose, was arrested earlier this month after a Grand Junction Police Department investigation.

According to the arrest affidavit, police were alerted to the case in September 2022, when two people reached out to GJPD saying they had been victims of fraud during the process of buying a Dodge Durango from Red Rock GMC.

The two people told police they had received a call from a credit union, in which a credit union employee told them the employee had just spoken on the phone with two people claiming to be the people buying the Dodge Durango. The call was to verify information on a credit application.

The victims told police the phone number given by the credit union as theirs was that of a Red Rock GMC finance manager.

The victims said they received a call from that finance manager, who The Daily Sentinel is not naming because he has not been charged with a crime, saying there was an issue with the financing, and he would have to send out more applications to lenders.

Some parts of the application were incorrect, according to the affidavit, including the victims’ address, how long they had lived there, and who would be the primary driver.

There was also incorrect information about the car on the application, according to the affidavit, including added accessories.

Recordings of the credit union’s call with the two people were shared with law enforcement.

According to the affidavit, when GJPD reached out to Red Rock Auto, a manager told police the dealership had not been aware of the situation until they were “locked out” of their account with the credit union. Miller and the other former employee told the manager they had called the credit union to expedite the loan process, and their employment was terminated.

A search warrant turned up calls that police said indicate Miller and the other employee were impersonating the buyers on the phone, including Miller answering the phone with “This is Tif,” before switching to the victim’s name.

The other finance manager was interviewed by police in July. He told investigators making the calls “was just part of the business and everyone knows they do it, including the banks.”

Red Rock GMC’s sales manager and general manager both knew about the practice and “essentially encouraged the behavior,” the former employee told police. The former employee said he had been terminated for getting caught, not for making the call in the first place.

The former employee told investigators Miller was the other person on the call.

When she was interviewed by police, Miller said she had left Red Rock because of her commute from Montrose, and the voice on the phone was a different person named Tiffany who had been hired after she left.

According to the affidavit, Miller’s personnel file at Red Rock GMC lists the reason for her departure as termination because of a company policy violation.

Miller also told investigators she is a recruit for the Montrose Police Department.

Montrose Police’s employment verification form for Miller stated Miller left Red Rock voluntarily because of the commute, according to the affidavit.

An email to Montrose Police seeking clarification on Miller’s status with the organization was not returned by press time.

A Red Rock human resources manager told police the dealership’s management had compelled her to fill out the form falsely, saying they didn’t want to ruin Miller’s life.

The dealership’s general manager told police he may have instructed the human resources manager to do that, but couldn’t recall the conversation, according to the affidavit.

Red Rock Auto Group, which operates five dealerships in the Grand Junction area, has come under scrutiny of late after accusations of questionable sales practices.

The Daily Sentinel reported the group was investigated by the Colorado Department of Revenue in late 2022. Miller’s arrest affidavit states the case was forwarded to the Colorado Department of Revenue in late 2022, but was sent back to local law enforcement because it involved felony criminal activity, not a regulatory issue.

An email seeking comment from Red Rock Auto Group managing partner Bryan Knight was not returned Thursday.

“He is a very busy person but he will get back to you within the next business days,” a note on Red Rock GMC’s website read.

Miller is due in court Wednesday.

Red Rock Auto faced with over a dozen complaints

By Hannah Hickman   KKCO 11 NEWS.COM
Published: Apr. 7, 2023 at 8:57 PM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Red Rock Auto Group faced over a dozen complaints in the last two years.

Equity skimming mentions of forgery, and misuse of dealer plates are just a few of the complaints against Red Rock Auto Group, Red Rock Nissan, Kia, and the Hyundai dealership, all in Grand Junction.

We submitted an open records request to see the complaints for ourselves but are still waiting. In the meantime, Anne Landman, a Grand Junction blogger got her hands on the same complaints and shared them with us.

The obtained records breakdown fifteen complaints filed over the past two years. The majority of the complaints alleged Red Rock failed to provide titles to vehicles purchased by customers.

The second most filed complaint claims the dealership engaged in unfair advertising practices-dealerships sold vehicles for higher than the original, advertised price.

Two of the complaints filed are considered felonies in Colorado- equity skimming and forgery.

Equity skimming is when a dealership takes a vehicle with a loan and sells the vehicle to a third party without getting permission from the creditor on the loan.

In Colorado the practice of equity skimming is considered a class six felony. Forgery is considered a class five felony.

The Colorado Department of Revenue’s Auto Industry Division reports it reviewed all the submitted complaints and closed them.

In all of the complaints the auto industry found Red Rock violated one or more state statutes and issued warnings to the group.

No complaints were submitted against other dealers in the Valley.

Copyright 2023 KKCO. All rights reserved.

Original Article 

Red Rock Auto Group under State and local investigation

By: Mark Bott, KERX News
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — 01/25/23

“Red Rock Auto Group” has been driving in the fast lane for the last few years, buying up 5 major local dealerships since 2016, But a new state investigation could slow things down, after multiple customers, and some former employees, raised serious questions about their business practices. There are dozens of complaints online and with the better business bureau on this issue, some so serious they’ve triggered a local and state investigation.
 Tyler Slade of Red Rock Auto Group addressed those reviews, telling us. “We certainly never want bad reviews. We’re striving to be better and making sure that whether you buy or not from red rock auto group, you leave, at least with a good experience.”
 
But Red Rock Auto Group’s problems go beyond bad online reviews. We were told by a former Red Rock customer, Jesus Acevedo, that he bought a truck from Red Rock’s Hyundai dealership without a printed contract. When the bank printed it for him, Jesus found a 10-thousand dollar extended service agreement charge, that he says he knew nothing about.  Jesus took a closer look at the document and found something even more disturbing. He told us, “somebody else forged my signature.” Jesus says Red rock Hyundai refused to address the issue at first, then gave him two choices: his down payment back or a newer truck, but only if he agreed to sign a curious liability waiver promising not to sue over his experience. Jesus told me he would have simply moved on, until close friends Michelle and Marcio Mondragon also ran into problems, this time with Red Rock’s Nissan dealership.

Local blogger and journalist Anne Landman started investigating after she helped Jesus and the Mondragon’s confront a Red Rock manager in person. She told KREX, “I brought up Jesus and the forgery on his contract and Collin Jones admitted he knew about that incident and he said he knew it was illegal.
 
KREX talked to other customers who tell us while they did get paper copies of contracts they learned when reviewing them important pages were missing.
 
KREX also talked to two confirmed former Red Rock employees who asked us not to use their names.  In this statement to KREX, one wrote,

“During my employment with Red Rock Auto Group I witnessed sales managers and finance managers forging customers’ signatures on power of attorney forms, dealer bill of sale forms, title applications, Colorado certificate of title and loan documents.  Many times, entire documents were missing from title paperwork.” They also said, “I was told by my direct supervisor that ‘every dealership does it and it’s no big deal’” The employee states they believe they were ultimately fired for refusing to go along with these practices.  A second former employee, a salesman told KREX the practice was well known in the office.
 
We contacted red rock auto for their side of the story and spoke with platform managers Brian Knight and Brantley Reade and also with Tyler Slade who introduced himself as a minority investor and who we learned is also a general manager for one of parent company, Tim Dahle’s Utah dealerships.  They told me they would not address specific customer complaints but insisted there is no systematic wrongdoing by Red Rock dealership or its parent company. Slade told us, “It is absolutely not a pattern. We pride ourselves on making sure that we have top-notch customer service.”

Instead, they claim Landman’s investigations are retaliation, because her stepson, who dealt in used trucks, couldn’t compete against Red Rock and went out of business. Landman’s stepson told KREX, it was the pandemic and a supply chain shortage of auto parts that shuttered his and some other local auto businesses.  He claims Red Rock’s aggressive buying of local inventory was not a factor. Red Rock claims complaints brought to their attention are resolved including termination of employees if needed.  And it should be noted red rock resolved the customer cases mentioned in this story. Slade told us, “We’re not interested in doing anything illegal. We’re not interested in trying to pull wool over any customer’s eyes. Our business model is about repeat business. It’s about referral business. And these shady practices are not acceptable and they don’t fit what we’re trying to do long-term, short-term, or any term

The Colorado Department of Revenue with assistance from the grand junction police department is now officially investigating Red Rock Auto Group.  As for Jesus Acevedo, he has this advice, “If you go, just be careful and read everything you sign, you know, make sure.”

A second “Red Rock” customer sent KREX documents also alleging that their signature was forged. “Red Rock” tells KREX they are cooperating fully with the state’s investigation. They asked us to give the numbers of the two brand managers people can call about issues. So if you’ve had issues call:

For Red Rock GMC, Hyundai, or Honda: Bryan Knight — (801)-792-3711 – bryank@tdauto.com

For Red Rock Nissan or Kia: Brantley – (801)-915-3711 – brantleyr@tdauto.com