CFPB Takes Action Against ‘Buy-Here, Pay-Here’ Auto Dealer

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The CFPB took its first action against a “buy-here, pay-here” car dealer.   The CFPB alleged that the dealer, DriveTime, harmed consumers by making harassing debt collection calls and providing inaccurate credit information to credit reporting agencies. DriveTime agreed to pay $8,000,000 as a civil money penalty, end its unfair debt collection tactics, fix its credit reporting practices, and arrange for harmed consumers to obtain free credit reports.  DriveTime did not admit or deny the facts in the consent order with the CFPB.

The CFPB believes Arizona-based DriveTime Automotive Group, Inc. and its finance company, DT Acceptance Corporation, make up the largest buy-here, pay-here car dealer in the nation. Buy-here, pay-here means that the dealer sells the car as well as originates and services the auto loan. Buy-here, pay-here dealers typically target subprime borrowers.

According to the CFPB, at least 45 percent of DriveTime’s auto installment contracts were delinquent at a given time. When DriveTime consumers fell behind on their installment payments, DriveTime’s extensive collections operation began calling them. DriveTime had at least 290 collection employees in two domestic call centers and 80 contractors in Barbados. These employees and contractors placed tens of thousands of collection calls each weekday. At the end of 2013, DriveTime had approximately 69,000 installment contracts past due that these employees would have been calling about.

The CFPB found that DriveTime violated federal consumer financial laws and harmed consumers through illegal actions such as:

  • Harassing borrowers at work: DriveTime collectors often called borrowers at work, and DriveTime management encouraged these calls. Several consumers requested that DriveTime not call them at work but DriveTime kept calling anyway. For example, one consumer was called 30 times at work after her do-not-call request.
  • Harassing borrowers’ references: DriveTime required consumers to provide the names and phone numbers of at least four references when they applied for financing. When consumers fell behind on their payments, DriveTime called these references. Many borrowers and references requested that DriveTime no longer make these calls, but DriveTime did not stop. Some references complained that DriveTime collectors called them for months after they had requested that the company stop. The CFPB determined that this practice was unfair to consumers.
  • Making excessive, repeated calls to wrong numbers: To reach consumers who fell behind, DriveTime frequently used third-party databases to find new phone numbers. These databases were often wrong. Upon receiving DriveTime’s calls, numerous third parties told DriveTime they had the wrong number and requested that DriveTime stop calling them. Despite such requests, DriveTime continued to make these calls. In some cases, DriveTime called these wrong numbers for over a year before stopping.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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