MONROE, Ohio — The Ohio Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against a now-defunct used car dealership in Butler County that allegedly sold numerous vehicles without titles.
Sirius Motors, which operated on Lebanon Street in Monroe, and its owner, Timothy Thacker, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the state's Title Defect Recision (TDR) fund has paid out $86,318.89 for consumer claims tied to Sirius Motors.
The business, according to the lawsuit, failed to file applications for certificates of title after vehicles arrived on its car lot; then, the business allegedly sold those vehicles to consumers while the vehicles still did not have valid titles.
Sirius Motors also failed to obtain certificates of title 40 days after the sale of those vehicles.
The business is no longer in operation, and Yost's office said the car lot has since been abandoned. However, the lawsuit is seeking a permanent injunction on Sirius Motors and Thacker, to keep them from doing business under any other names in the future. A second request for an injunction seeks to keep Thacker and Sirius Motors from applying for any motor vehicle dealer license in the future, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also seeks to have Thacker and Sirius Motors pay a civil penalty of $25,000 per vehicle sold to consumers without a title.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office still has consumer complaints tied to Thacker and Sirius Motors pending with its office, which the lawsuit said could still result in future costs for the TDR fund.
According to Ohio's business search tool through the Ohio Secretary of State's office, Thacker still possesses an active license in Monroe for Sirius Motors, Inc. He also appears to have a license for Sirius Edges LLC that remains active.
In addition to those, business licenses issued for Thacker using the same address used for the Sirius Motors license include companies called Paramount Solutions and Thacker Cleaning. However, the business license for Thacker Cleaning was canceled in 2015 after it was not renewed.
According to the Better Business Bureau's website, Sirius Motors was not accredited by the organization, which gave it an F rating for failing to respond to six complaints filed against it.
