On December 14, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DPFI) announced that it entered what it described as a “novel” consent order with a Los Angeles-based automobile title loan lender prohibiting the company from marketing or servicing title loans under $10,000 with interest rates above 36 percent within the state of California for the next…
On September 30, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with an auto lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). Following an investigation which began in 2019, the DOJ filed a complaint that same day in the United States District Court for the Northern…
On September 29, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with a California-based auto lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). In a simultaneously-filed complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the DOJ…
On July 29, 2021, the FTC announced that it had reached a $450,000 settlement with the owner and manager of a group of auto dealerships. In a complaint originally filed in 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the FTC alleged that the owner, with his group of car dealerships,…
On July 21, 2021, the Mississippi Attorney General announced that it had reached a settlement with a national auto lender to resolve claims that the company placed borrowers into auto loans with a high probability of default. The Attorney General also alleged that the auto lender engaged in aggressive collection practices in violation…
On June 29, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced it entered consent orders with two New York-based banks for allegedly violating New York’s fair lending laws in the course of providing auto loans. The banks will pay $275,000 and $350,000 in penalties to the state to resolve the allegations. DFS alleged that the…
On May 27, 2021, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with a subprime auto lender resolving alleged violations of the state’s unfair and deceptive acts and practices law. The Massachusetts AG alleged that the auto lender, in connection with its purchase of auto retail installment sales contracts from…
On May 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order and stipulation with a California-based company that services subprime auto loans originated by car dealers. According to the consent order and stipulation, the CFPB found that the company engaged in unfair acts or practices by charging interest on late payments related to loss damage waiver fees,…
On November 20, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Florida-based company that offers auto loans over the company’s alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The consent order, entered against both the company and personally against the company’s…
On November 2, 2020, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into a consent order with a Texas-based auto lender. The CFPB alleged that the auto lender engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by falsely claiming that…
On October 26, 2020, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii announced that a federal judge sentenced the owner of a fraudulent mortgage relief scheme to 240 months’ imprisonment, after the jury convicted the owner of 32 counts of wire fraud and mail fraud. The owner created two companies, neither of which…
On September 21, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a consent order with an auto loan servicer to resolve allegations that the company charged customers for loss damage waiver coverage without actually providing it. According to the CFPB, this practice was unfair under the Consumer Financial Protection Act,…
On September 3, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (“DBO”) announced it had initiated an investigation into an auto title lender for possible violations of California’s state usury limits, through its relationship with an out-of-state bank. In 2020, the Company allegedly stopped making state-licensed auto loans in California and instead partnered…
On August 31, 2020, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy (“Massachusetts AG”) announced that she had filed suit in Massachusetts state court against a national auto lender for allegedly making unfair and deceptive loans to thousands of Massachusetts consumers since 2013 and engaging in unfair debt collection practices. According to the Massachusetts AG, the company…
On August 26, 2020, Michigan’s Attorney General announced that it had reached a $1.8 million settlement with an online car title loan company. The company is alleged to have sold online car loans to Michigan consumers with illegal interest rates in the triple digits, including rates as high as 231 percent. …
On August 12, 2020, the Vermont Attorney General (Vermont AG) announced a settlement with an auto financing company related to alleged unfair or deceptive practices concerning the company’s subprime auto loans. According to the Vermont AG’s complaint, filed on August 7, 2020, the company engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Vermont Consumer Protection Act, 9…
On July 2, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with a Maryland used car dealership. The consent order resolves a lawsuit filed by the DOJ in September 2019, which alleged that the dealership discriminated against African American consumers by offering different loan terms based on race,…
On May 19, 2020, a coalition of 34 state attorneys general announced a settlement of over $550 million with an auto financing company. The settlement is the result of a five year, multi-state investigation into the company’s subprime lending practices. The company is alleged to have used a sophisticated credit scoring…
On March 9, 2020, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office (Massachusetts AG) announced that it had entered into a consent judgment with a national used car company resolving allegations that the company’s local Massachusetts franchise engaged in predatory lending and deceptive sales of defective vehicles. According to the Massachusetts AG’s complaint, filed in September 2017, the company…
On December 16, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced that it had entered into a consent order and settlement with an auto title lender to resolve allegations that the company violated the California Financing Law, Fin. Code Section 22000 et seq. Per the settlement, the auto title…