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…
On September 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against a Maryland used cars dealership, and its owner and manager, for allegedly violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The complaint’s allegations are…
On November 19, 2019, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had settled its investigation into a used car dealership’s allegedly unfair and deceptive sales practices in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. The AG alleged that the Massachusetts car dealership and its owner misrepresented material information about…
On September 23, the California Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that it had filed a complaint against a network of auto dealerships and its chief executive, alleging that they targeted low-income consumers with subprime credit using false advertising promising fictitiously low interest rates; made false statements on credit applications to…
On April 11, 2019, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office (AG) announced that the AG’s Consumer Protection Division had filed charges against affiliated businesses and their owner (defendants) alleging that they had made unlicensed and usurious consumer loans in the form of “title loans” or “title pawns” secured by Maryland consumers’…
On April 8, the Delaware and Massachusetts Attorney Generals’ Offices (AGs) announced that they had entered into settlements with an auto loan finance company. The AGs alleged that the auto lender facilitated the origination of subprime auto loans that violated state consumer protection laws by funding and securitizing loans that consumers could not…