SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. -- An Upstate car dealership that was sued by more than a dozen customers, and that owes thousands to several local television stations including WYFF, has filed for bankruptcy.

Joe Gibson's Auto World Inc., also known as Joe Gibson Suzuki, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Spartanburg County on Wednesday.

The paperwork filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court District of South Carolina lists dozens of people owed money by the dealership.

The 20 creditors holding the largest unsecured claims against Joe Gibson's Auto World are:

Americredit, in Arlington, Texas, $612,017.83 (disputed)

Franklin Capital Corp, Salt Lake City, Utah, $375,052.33 (disputed)

M&T Bank, Buffalo, N.Y., $263,578.44 (disputed)

Christopher Ad Group, Coral Gables, Fla., $136,727.97

WHNS-TV, Charlotte, N.C., $118.286

Charter Media, Greenville, $106, 272.94

WBTV, Charlotte, N.C., $76,150.75

WLOS, Asheville, N.C., $71,164.55

Time Warner Cable, Atlanta, Ga., $47,414.87

WYFF, Greenville, $40,120

WSPA-TV, Richmond, Va., $39,117

WSOC, Charlotte, N.C., $33,086.25

Vanessa Williams, Piedmont, S.C., $24,000

WSMZ, Atlanta, Ga., $23,662.28

WYCW-TV, Richmond, Va., $17,688.75

WHZT, Atlanta, Ga., $16,794.70

WBAV-FM, Charlotte, N.C., $8,946.25

IRS, Insolvency Group 4, Columbia, S.C., $6,101.54

S.C. Department of Revenue, Columbia, S.C., $5,811.43

S.C. Department of Revenue, Withholding Tax, $1,352.09

Joe Gibson Suzuki released a lengthy statement Thursday afternoon saying that through the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Joe Gibson Suzuki/Mitsubishi was "striving to protect local jobs through reorganization."

To read the full, unedited statement, click here.

WYFF reported on lawsuits filed against the dealership by customers and complaints that were filed against Joe Gibson's Suzuki because of advertising a state official called "false, misleading and deceptive."

The dealership was the subject of more than 50 consumer complaints with the Better Business Bureau and was named as the defendant in more than 14 lawsuits.

According to lawsuits already filed, customers were led to believe their monthly car payments would be as low as $47 when they bought a car from the dealership, but were hit with much higher payments after a few months.

The details vary, but customers said they went to the dealership because of advertising promising very low car payments.

It is that advertising that regulators say violates the law.

In a letter, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs spelled out how the business appeared to have broken the law.

"In almost 20 years of reviewing auto advertising, this office has never received so many complaints about advertising against one business," Danny Collins, a deputy for regulatory enforcement with the department wrote in the letter.

Collins said that after reviewing the business' ads and disclosures, "it appears that you are using a particular type of false, misleading or deceptive advertising, what the Federal Trade Commission calls bait advertising."

Kathy Barrett of the Upstate Better Business Bureau said that the state's action was the "nail in the coffin" for the dealership.