Fenty shutters used car dealers

By Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer 11/18/08

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty continues to crack down on used car dealerships, shutting down 23 lots on Monday for various offenses. Examiner File Mayor Adrian Fenty’s crackdown on used car dealerships continued Monday, with the mayor announcing that he had ordered 23 more lots shuttered in Northeast Washington.

Fenty says he wants to close 100 dealerships for a variety of offenses, ranging from environmental violations to building code problems.

The Fenty regime zeroed in last year on the dealers, most of them along Bladensburg Avenue. Squads of inspectors have fanned out through Northeast, rifling papers, reviewing licenses and checking equipment. Fifty-one businesses have been closed, 68 vehicles towed off lots and $22,500 in fines issued, according to the city.

But the sweeps have caused problems of their own. The Examiner reported over the summer that some of the dealerships were fighting back, filing suit against Fenty and his squad, accusing them of violating their due process rights — banging down doors, raiding shops without cause and illegally citing the owners.

The mayor, for his part, says the dealerships are little better than chop shops, dumping grounds for stolen cars to be tweaked and then shipped to poor countries overseas.

“The word on the street is the District is an easy place to get a used car dealers’ license,” interim Attorney General Peter Nickles said in a news release. “Let me be clear that we are no longer going to be a parking lot for these dealers.”

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