Amrep Corporation v. Federal Trade Commission

768 F.2d 1171, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20720
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 25, 1985
Docket84-1434
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 768 F.2d 1171 (Amrep Corporation v. Federal Trade Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amrep Corporation v. Federal Trade Commission, 768 F.2d 1171, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20720 (10th Cir. 1985).

Opinion

WILLIAM E. DOYLE, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner AMREP Corporation (Amrep) seeks review of a cease and desist order entered against it by the respondent Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) on February 8, 1984. This court has jurisdiction in this case pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 45(c). We affirm the FTC’s order in all respects.

The Basic Facts

Amrep is an Oklahoma corporation with its principal place of business in New York City. It was first incorporated as American Realty & Petroleum Corporation in 1955. 1 Prior to August, 1961 Amrep was engaged exclusively in operating oil and gas properties in Oklahoma. In August, 1961, however, the company entered the business of acquiring large tracts of unimproved land. It subdivided the land into lots and sold them in the subdivisions to the general public. Amrep’s principal business today continues to be selling lots to the public in its subdivisions.

On March 11, 1975, the FTC issued a formal complaint charging that Amrep used unfair and deceptive sales practices in connection with sales of vacant lots in its subdivisions. The complaint centered on the sales practices used in connection with four Amrep subdivisions: Rio Rancho Estates, near Albuquerque, New Mexico; El Dorado at Santa Fe, New Mexico; Silver Springs Shores near Ocala, Florida, and Oakmont Shores, in Missouri. The Commission’s complaint was that Amrep had falsely represented to potential buyers that its lots were a safe investment sure to yield short-term profits. It further alleged that Amrep had made false representations concerning the growth rates of the areas in which its subdivisions were located, and that it had falsely represented that land in its subdivisions was steadily increasing in value. It was also alleged that Amrep had made false representations about physical and legal constraints on the growth of Albuquerque that made an investment in land at Rio Rancho Estates appear more attractive to consumers than it actually was. The complaint also alleged that Amrep used unfair high-pressure sales tactics in marketing its lots, and that its prepared form contracts for the purchase of land contained unfair and illegal provisions.

Hearings before an Administrative Law Judge on the complaint began in June, *1174 1976. They were stayed by order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as of July 30, 1976. This action was taken in order to complete a criminal proceeding against Am-rep and its officers in that court. See United States v. Amrep Corp., 405 F.Supp. 1053 (S.D.N.Y.1976), aff'd without opinion, 535 F.2d 1240 (2d Cir.1976). The hearings resumed on May 2, 1977, following the completion of the criminal trial conducted by the government. That trial resulted in convictions of Amrep and six leaders on March 10, 1977. 2 They continued intermittently until May 17, 1978. The hearing record was closed on May 31, 1978.

Discussion of the Evidence

The exhibits and testimony introduced during those hearings revealed that during the time period covered by the FTC’s complaint (1961-1975), Amrep had marketed its lots primarily through company-sponsored dinner parties. These parties were held all over the nation, usually far from the Am-rep subdivision that was being promoted at the party. Their format did not vary. Prospective buyers (usually husband and wife) were invited to the parties and were seated at small tables (usually two couples together with an Amrep salesman). After the prospective buyers had been served a free dinner and substantial amounts of alcoholic beverages, an Amrep speaker would introduce promotional films on the particular Amrep subdivision that was the subject of the dinner party. These promotional films were produced by Amrep’s central office and were described by the Administrative Law Judge as masterpieces of illusion. For example, the Amrep film on El Dorado at Santa Fe made the New Mexico desert bloom through liberal use of green spray paint on the grass shown in the film.

After the conclusion of the films, the speaker gave a brief talk on the particular subdivision in question. The speakers’ presentations had been prepared in writing by Amrep’s central office in New York. The emphasis was made that Amrep land was a great short-term investment and a sure-fire hedge against inflation. Following the speaker’s completed presentation, prospective buyers were pressured into signing land purchase agreements that very night by the salesmen sitting at their tables. These salesmen’s tactics had been also dictated by the New York office. The salesmen were told to create artificial excitement by calling out “holds” on particular pieces of property. This was so as to create an artificial impression of increasing property values by stressing that Amrep had dictated increases in the list prices of lots in the subdivision, and to create artificial pressure to purchase land by filling out Amrep-prepared form contracts with required personal data before prospective buyers had indicated their willingness to buy land. These high-pressure tactics led many individuals to buy Amrep land sight unseen.

The individuals who made these sight unseen land purchases were not firmly bound to carry through with them at this time. They had the right to cancel their purchases if they visited the Amrep subdivision where they had purchased land within six months and were not satisfied with their purchases. If they were merely dissatisfied with the particular lot they had purchased, they also had the right to exchange it for another lot of comparable value within the subdivision. To facilitate purchasers’ inspections of their lots, Amrep provided chartered trips to its subdivisions. These trips were not conducive to dispassionate inspections of the purchasers’ new properties. Indeed these visits were almost as carefully scripted as were Amrep’s dinner parties. The purchasers (now known as “homesite owners”) were again plied with substantial quantities of alcoholic beverages. During their stay at the subdivision, they were taken on tours of the region’s most noteworthy attractions. These views did not include the Amrep *1175 subdivision. Purchasers’ inspections of their lots were usually limited to a couple of hours on the last day of the trips. If the buyers showed any inclination to cancel their purchases, Amrep’s salesmen were instructed to make overly optimistic representations to the buyers about the pace of development in the subdivision and about Amrep’s plans for the subdivision’s future. The salesmen also stressed the “exchange privilege” and pointed out more desirable lots in other parts of the subdivision. They did not, however, point out that more desirable lots of equal value were often smaller than the lots that the buyers had purchased, or that buyers were required to pay cash “boot” to obtain more desirable lots of a size equal to their original lots. Amrep’s tours and exchange privileges were effective in that they served to prevent most buyers from cancelling their land purchase contracts.

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Bluebook (online)
768 F.2d 1171, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 20720, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amrep-corporation-v-federal-trade-commission-ca10-1985.