Cars4Causes

Agency: California Attorney General (CA AG)
Description:

On December 1, 2015, the California Attorney General along with two local District Attorneys, filed a lawsuit against Cars 4 Causes ("C4C") a car donation charity for violating state law by misrepresenting their charitable programs and improperly profiting from supposedly charitable activities. Car donation organizations are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations that solicit car donations, sell the vehicles, deduct all their costs, and then use what is left to fund a charitable program. The lawsuit against C4C alleges C4C used 87% of its donations to pay for items such as advertising and administrative costs, including staff salaries, while only 13% was directed to actual charities. From 2009-2014, C4C reported that $15.9 million was donated to charity. In reality, C4C only gave $5.4 million to charity and many of the charities designated by donors received nothing at all. During this time, the lawsuit alleges C4C denied many requests from individuals in need seeking a car, all while paying thousands of dollars towards staff salaries and millions to advertisers.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on December 1, 2015. The DA is asking that the court order C4C to cease making representations, and to pay all money owed to the donor's charity of choice. This matter is currently pending.