Car Dealerships

CFPB Targets Auto Financing For Enforcement

by Michael Volkov on 5/14/2013

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau continues to spread its wings in the enforcement arena. It is an agency born and confined in political controversy. ...more

Chrysler Dealers File Brief Opposing Government’s Takings Appeal

by Nancie G. Marzulla on 5/14/2013

Nearly 150 former Chrysler dealers whose franchises were terminated as part of the Government’s TARP restructuring of Chrysler today filed their brief opposing the Government’s interlocutory appeal of their taking case in the...more

Dealership Update, No. 2, May 2013: Did The Local DUI Lawyer Draft Your Pay Plans?

by Tillman Coffey | Fisher & Phillips LLP on 5/9/2013

Of course not. We just wanted to get your attention. The real question is when was the last time you reviewed your pay plans to make sure that they accurately reflected your current pay practices and policies, and...more

USDOL Still Barred From Challenging "Service Writer" Exemption

by John E. Thompson | Fisher & Phillips LLP on 4/12/2013

Readers will recall that, in April 2011, the U.S. Labor Department declined to adopt an interpretation proposed in 2008 that would have acknowledged the federal Fair Labor Standards Act overtime-exempt status of employees...more

Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictment For Alleged Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Violations

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/4/2013

On March 28, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama announced that a federal grand jury had returned a two-count indictment against a used car dealer for violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)....more

CFPB Announces Plans to Hold Auto Lenders Liable for Discriminatory Loans

by Michael Mallow, Michael Thurman | Loeb & Loeb LLP on 4/3/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a guidance bulletin announcing that it will treat indirect auto lenders as creditors subject to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The March 21 bulletin follows the CFPB's...more

Ford Increases Electric Vehicle Dealers And Pushes Sales

by Bruce Goodman | Varnum LLP on 4/3/2013

The number of Ford Motor Company dealers who can sell electric vehicles will more than quadruple this spring. The company will so have 900 certified dealers, up from the 200 it had near the end of last year. The dealers will...more

Auto finance: can we really call disparate impact “discrimination”?

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/1/2013

I want to thank Jeff Sovern over at the Public Citizen Consumer Law & Policy Blog for having an interesting back-and-forth with me over the last week about the application of the disparate impact theory of liability to dealer...more

CFPB Issues Guidance On Indirect Auto Lending

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/1/2013

On March 21, the CFPB issued Bulletin 2013-02, which provides guidance to bank and nonbank indirect auto lenders about compliance with federal fair lending requirements, and specifically addresses the practice by which auto...more

How the CFPB’s stance on ECOA in auto finance will raise consumer prices

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/28/2013

Ever since the CFPB’s release of its bulletin relating to disparate impact analysis of dealer rate participation last week, the press and consumer advocacy groups have been buzzing about the Bureau’s stance and its potential...more

CFPB To Pursue Auto Lenders For Illegal Discriminatory Markups

by Stephen M. Quinlivan | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Dodd-Frank and... on 3/25/2013

The CFPB has released a bulletin explaining its belief that certain lenders that offer auto loans through dealerships are responsible for unlawful, discriminatory pricing. According to the CFPB, potentially discriminatory...more

Auto dealer trade groups question CFPB guidance

by Alan S. Kaplinsky | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/25/2013

It seems two major auto dealer trade groups share my doubts about whether the CFPB’s position on dealer rate participation will really help car buyers. In a statement responding to CFPB Bulletin 2013-02, the National...more

Infobytes - A Weekly In-depth review of news & developments in the financial services industry - March 22, 2013

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/25/2013

In This Issue: - FEDERAL ISSUES - STATE ISSUES - COURTS - MISCELLANY - FIRM NEWS - FIRM PUBLICATIONS - MORTGAGES - BANKING - CONSUMER FINANCE - SECURITIES - E-COMMERCE -...more

CFPB Issues Guidance on Indirect Auto Lending ECOA Compliance

by John L. Culhane, Jr., Alan S. Kaplinsky, Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/22/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued guidance on fair lending compliance for indirect auto lenders. The guidance targets the practice of “dealer markups.” This practice involves an auto dealer charging the...more

The CFPB previews its coming auto finance fair lending enforcement actions

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/22/2013

Earlier today, the CFPB released its guidance bulletin with respect to automobile indirect finance fair lending issues. The bulletin’s intent is unmistakably clear from the accompanying press release’s tag line: “CONSUMER...more

So this is what the CFPB means about leveling the playing field?

by Alan S. Kaplinsky | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/22/2013

My colleague, Chris Willis, posted his reaction to CFPB Bulletin 2013-02, which provides guidance as to how the CFPB will apply ECOA and Reg B to dealer rate participation in the auto finance business. Except for Chris’...more

Judge Upholds U.S. Automobile Dealers In Fraud and Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Indian Truck Manufacturer Mahindra

by Michael Diaz Jr. - Diaz Reus International... on 3/8/2013

Originally published in PR Newswire on March 7, 2013 A federal judge has upheld a lawsuit by U.S. automobile dealers accusing Indian truck manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd. and its U.S. counterpart of fraud,...more

Appellate Court Invalidates Auto Dealership's Method Of Paying Service Technicians

by Fisher & Phillips LLP on 3/8/2013

In an unpublished decision, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal held that that piece-rate-paid employees are entitled to separate hourly pay for “waiting” time. The case involved a class of 108 automobile service...more

California Appeals Court Permits Borrowers’ Claims Against Lender Based On Auto Dealer’s Alleged Breach Of Installment Contract

by BuckleySandler LLP on 2/25/2013

On February 4, the California Court of Appeal, Third District, held the FTC’s Holder Rule allows borrowers to assert claims against a lender assignee that they might otherwise have against the auto dealer with whom the...more

Infobytes - A Weekly In-depth review of news & developments in the financial services industry - February 15, 2013

by BuckleySandler LLP on 2/15/2013

In This Issue: - FEDERAL ISSUES - STATE ISSUES - COURTS - FIRM NEWS - FIRM PUBLICATIONS - MORTGAGES - BANKING - CONSUMER FINANCE - PRIVACY/DATA SECURITY - Excerpt from Privacy/Data...more

Auto Notes -- February 2013

by Michael R. Kelley, Elizabeth Mullaugh | McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 2/11/2013

In This Issue: "Insuring Your Dealership: Do I Really Need Garage Liability and Garagekeeper's Insurance?" and "The American Taxpayer Relief Act"...more

Some Class-Action Waiver Clauses Continue to be Held Unenforceable, Even After Concepcion

by Christopher M P Jackson | Cohen & Gresser LLP on 2/6/2013

In a decision dated January 7, 2013, the California Court of Appeal invalidated a mandatory arbitration and class action waiver clause in an automobile sales contract, ruling that the arbitration clause was unconscionable and...more

Prius Owners Put The Brakes On Arbitration With Non-Signatory Toyota

by Liz Kramer | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Arbitration... on 2/4/2013

The Ninth Circuit ruled this week that a class of car owners could pursue their court claims against the manufacturer, Toyota, for product defects and false advertising, despite the existence of an arbitration agreement in...more

California Appeals Court Holds No Actual Damages Necessary To Sustain Claims Against Dealer, Finance Company Under State Auto...

by BuckleySandler LLP on 1/30/2013

On January 15, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that an auto buyer need not plead actual damages to sustain a claim under the state’s auto finance act, and that there is no statutory...more

California District Court Holds Assignee Indirect Auto Finance Company Not Subject To FDCPA

by BuckleySandler LLP on 1/24/2013

On January 9, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that an indirect auto finance company that took assignment of a retail installment sales contract from an automobile dealer is not a debt...more

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