photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

The Kansas Department of Revenue has seized the assets of 6th Street Auto after it alleged the company is more than $100,000 behind in sales tax payments.

If you were in the process of buying a car at 6th Street Auto in Lawrence, you’ve got a new wrinkle to deal with — the state has shut down the used car business over allegations of more than $100,000 in unpaid sales taxes.

A red “seized” sign is hanging on the front door of the dealership at 1716 W. Sixth St. A spokeswoman with the Kansas Department of Revenue confirmed the state has taken over all assets of the business. The state alleges that the company’s owners owe $100,020 in back sales taxes. Rachel Whitten, spokeswoman for the department, said she couldn’t share how far back the unpaid sales taxes go.

“It has been a long time, though,” Whitten said. “We work with businesses for a long time before we take this action.”

Scott Teenor is listed as the owner of the business. An attempt to reach him for comment was unsuccessful.

6th Street Auto

Whitten said that the state now owns all of the company’s vehicles — there were seven of them on the lot when I went to the site on Wednesday — and all the rest of the assets of the company. She said the state recognizes there may be some customers who already had made arrangements to buy a car from the dealership. She said the department will work with those customers to finish the transaction. People who were in the process of buying a vehicle or have questions about warranties or other issues related to vehicles they have bought from the business are asked to call the revenue agent who is now in charge of the business: Michelle Vickers at 785-368-8148.

Whitten said the state will sell at auction the remaining cars on the lot, as well as other assets of the business. She said the state also may seize personal assets of Teenor to satisfy the unpaid taxes and penalties.

Teenor is a former general manager and employee of several Lawrence dealerships. When I interviewed him in 2016, he also said he was the owner of Lawrence Motorsports, which sells motorcycles, ATVs and other vehicles.

If you are having a hard time picturing 6th Street Auto, it is not that old of a business. I wrote about plans for the business back in July of 2016. The business opened several months after that. It is located a couple of blocks east of the Sixth and Iowa street intersection. You might remember the site as the one that for years had a small, red, A-frame building on it that served as the site of Vantuyl Motors and later a limousine service.

Teenor made a big investment in rehabilitating the property. The little wooden A-frame building came down and he completely redeveloped the site. The county appraiser values the building and improvements at the site at just under $500,000. No word yet on what will happen with the property.