The Federal Trade Commission announced an agreement late on Monday with a Long Island, N.Y.-based independent dealership group, resolving claims that “deceived consumers by advertising prices far lower than what consumers ultimately had to pay.”

It’s also the specific scenario set to be addressed during a free educational webinar hosted by Ignite Dealer Compliance Group, AutoMaster Systems and Big Time Advertising.

The FTC explained its proposed order with Stream Auto Outlet prohibits the group from misrepresenting the costs or terms of acquiring a vehicle. It also requires Stream Auto’s advertisements that include price to prominently display the actual price a consumer must pay for a vehicle, excluding only charges the government requires consumers to pay.

According to the complaint, Stream Auto misled consumers into visiting its dealerships by advertising vehicles online at artificially low prices but then refusing to honor those prices.

For example, officials said Stream Auto allegedly charged consumers thousands of dollars in required down payments on top of the advertised price.

Stream Auto’s websites obscured information about the required down payment by including it in a small-print disclaimer on a “details” page hidden behind a popup and among other disclosures, according to the complaint.

In a March letter, the FTC warned Stream that “advertising a price that does not reflect all required fees” was an example of an illegal pricing practice.

Despite claiming “NO FEES. NO GAMES. JUST CARS” in its promotional material, Stream Auto continued to charge consumers thousands more than the advertised amount through the imposition of various dealer fees and unwanted add-on charges, according to the FTC complaint.

“Buying a car is one of the largest purchases many consumers make, and they deserve clear, transparent information about what they will pay,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Hidden costs and deceptive pricing undermine informed consumer choice and distort competition. Price transparency is a cornerstone of a fair marketplace and continues to be a top priority for the Trump FTC.”

The FTC vote authorizing staff to file the complaint and the stipulated final order was 2-0. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Officials added that stipulated orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the district court judge.

With this settlement among other developments prompting the session, Ignite Dealer Compliance Group, AutoMaster Systems and Big Time Advertising are hosting an educational webinar at 2 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 18.

Steve Levine of Ignite Dealer Compliance Group is collaborating on this webinar with Mike Downey of AutoMaster Systems and Terry MacCauley of Big Time Advertising.

“To win in this environment, simply knowing the rules isn’t enough. You need to implement them, you need buy in from your service providers and your team, and everyone had better be on the same page,” Levine, Downey and MacCauley said. “The problem with much of the content that I’ve seen published on this issue is that it only focuses on the legal requirements and doesn’t tackle the implementation challenges.

“Together, we’ll address what folks are getting right, where they are falling short, and how to jumpstart your efforts to use these developments to get ahead of your competition and sell more vehicles,” they continued. “This isn’t another infomercial, this is meaningful content you can immediately put to the test. We’ll share our insights on what matters most and the hard questions to tackle.”

Register for the free webinar here.