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Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard announced a $19,500 settlement Thursday between his office and D.W. Phillips LLC, doing business as Arizona Honda, for what he said were deceptive practices to help some customers get financing when they didn't qualify.

The firm was suspected of helping customers get credit cards to purchase all-terrain vehicles or motorcycles. The state claimed that employees would write the charge was for "accessories" on the credit slip and then in financing paperwork would list the amount as a "cash down payment" or "total down payment."

Such practice infringed on the financial institution's lending policy, and such customers may not have qualified for regular financing, according to the state, which claims Arizona Honda did not inform customers of this.

The $19,500 is to be paid to the Attorney General's Office for attorneys' fees, and Arizona Honda is also not allowed to claim on paperwork that a charge is for accessories if no accessories were purchased, nor can the dealership note credit-card purchases as cash on financing documents.

Under the settlement, Arizona Honda must also disclose the fact that a financial institution's policy forbids using a credit card for down payments; it must send the Attorney General's Office copies of finance-related complaints it gets from customers and other agencies for the next two years.

The general manager of Arizona Honda could not be reached for comment Friday.

It's the second time in less than six months that dealership employees apparently have run afoul of the law.

In September, three employees of Arizona Honda, 4710 S. Palo Verde Road, were indicted on charges of using customer credit application information — including names, birth dates and Social Security numbers — to obtain and use credit cards in those customers' names. That case is pending in federal court.