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RV dealer's business license is suspended

 
Published Sept. 13, 2000|Updated Sept. 27, 2005

Several customers and banks had complained of shoddy dealings at Holiday RV and Marine Center.

After more than a dozen customers and a handful of banks complained of shoddy dealings by Holiday RV and Marine Center in New Port Richey, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has suspended the company's license to do business.

Citing Holiday's failure to pay off liens and transfer titles on recreational vehicles that were traded in at the dealership on U.S. 19, the Division of Motor Vehicles declared the emergency suspension and announced its intent to revoke the business's licenses in a 12-page administrative complaint made public Tuesday.

Holiday has 21 days to respond to the complaint, which outlines 16 separate cases in which Holiday was either late in transferring titles and registrations or failed to pay off liens on time.

One case involved Jack and Maxine Ney, a couple who live in the Brookridge community in Hernando County. In February, they took their 2-year-old Itasca Sunrise to Holiday on consignment.

In April, they found out the vehicle had been sold, but the lien had not been paid off by Holiday. The title and registration remained in the Neys' names for months after it was sold, and, as they found out in June when they skipped a monthly payment, the bank still held them responsible for nearly $35,000.

The Neys continued to make $371 monthly payments on the RV through July.

Ney said Tuesday that he was happy to hear of the suspension, but he remains concerned about getting a refund from Holiday, which in May filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"They owe us about five payments, plus the interest, as far as I can figure," he said. "They've got the RVs so screwed up down there, they can't find out who belongs to what."

On Tuesday, New Port Richey Police announced a criminal investigation involving sales and transactions at Holiday is ongoing and is being conducted in conjunction with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.

Detective Howard Snyder said complaints involve 10 to 12 local customers as well as five to six financial institutions that did business with Holiday.

Joseph Guglielmo, who owns the dealership, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In a previous interview, he blamed cash-flow problems for delays in paying customers.