Resources- Sales and Financing Abuses

Wheels of Fortune. Ken Bensinger. Los Angeles Times. (2011). The three-part investigative series, along with online multimedia components, documents how "Buy Here Pay Here" used car dealers, who prey on people with credit problems, are thriving in California. Link to the full series and view key research documents.

Part 1: A Vicious Cycle in the Used-Car Business (Oct. 30, 2011)
Part 2: Investors Place Big Bets on Buy Here Pay Here Used Car Dealers (Nov. 1, 2011)
Part 3: Is there a better way for the working poor to find wheels? (Nov. 3, 2011)

Group comments to the Federal Trade Commission on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Review on auto warranties a and defects. (October 2011)

Comments: Credit Risk Retention. National Consumer Law Center and National Association of Consumer Advocates. (August 2011)

Thomas D. Domonoske on Yo-yo Sales materials from the webinar recording. (2011)

Webinar Recording: Cars and Working Families, Part 1: Asset Limits. John Van Alst (NCLC), Nick Straley, Hosai Ehsan, David McMahon.

Book: Automobile Fraud 3rd Ed., (2007) and Supplement (2009). National Consumer Law Center.

Small Dollar Loan Products SCORECARD - Update:Scorecard Shows Consumers Pay Steep Rates for Small Loans . Leah Plunkett. National Consumer Law Center. (2010). 

State-by-State Racial Disparities in Auto Lending by Auto Dealers. Policy Brief. National Consumer Law Center. (2010).

Asymmetric Information, Adverse Selection and Online Disclosure: The Case of eBay Motors.Gregory Lewis. Harvard University. (2010).

Amicus Brief, Ninth Circuit, Issue: Auto Financing (CA law impacting repossession).Center for Responsible Lending, AARP, NCLC, et al. Filed March 5, 2010.

Auto Dealer Markup Calculator: How Much Might You Be Overpaying On Your Car Loan? Center for Responsible Lending.

How to Buy a Used Car Without Being Taken for a Ride: What You Need to Know Before Buying a Used Car or Truck to Get a Good Vehicle at a Fair Price. Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Auto Dealers Should Play By The Same Rules As Everyone Else.Center for Responsible Lending. Policy Brief.(2010).  

Basics of Predatory Auto Financing.Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).(external link) (2010).

 Car Salesmen, Lobbyists, and Charts: Illustrating the Dangers of Biased Use of Data. Cambridge Winter. (2010).

Signs of Predatory Auto Loans.Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).  (external link) (2010).

How To Avoid Car Title Loans. Center for Responsible Lending.

Insider Car Report -Sharpen Your Game When Car Buying. Consumers for Auto Reliability and Conscious Youth Media Crew. (2010)

Driving a Bargain: Coming Out Ahead at the End of Your Auto Lease . Consumer Federation of America. 

Asymmetric Information, Adverse Selection and Online Disclosure: The Case of eBay Motors. Gregory Lewis, Working Paper. Department of Economics, Harvard University. (2009).

Basics of Predatory Auto Financing. Center for Responsible Lending. (2009).

Auto Race to the Bottom: Free Markets and Consumer Protection in Auto Finance.Raj Date & Brian Reed. Cambridge Winter Center for Financial Institutions Policy.(2009).

Car Trouble: Predatory Auto Loans Burden North Carolina Consumers.Delvin Davis & Joshua M. Frank. Center for Responsible Lending.(2009).

Auto Dealers' Lending Abuses Cost Billions: Car Loans Are Too Important To Be Excused From CFPA. Kathleen Keest. Center for Responsible Lending.  (2009).

When Your Car Dealership Goes Broke. Jim Hawkins. Journal of Consumer and Commercial Law. (2009).

The Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Implications for Consumers and the FTC.Testimony of Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union (CU), joined by NCLC. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, July 8, 2009.

Disclosure and Transparency in the Automobile Finance Industry - A Call To Action.Carolyn Hayden & Sheela Cooper. Annie E. Casey Foundation &  Opportunity Cars & One World Consulting Group, LLC. (2008).

Book: Don't Get Taken Every Time- The Ultimate Guide to  Buying or Leasing a Car on the Internet or in the Showroom. Remar Sutton. Casey Foundation. (2007).

Buying and Keeping a Used Car. Illinois Legal Aid. (2007).

Imperfect Competition in Auto Lending: Subjective Markup, Racial Disparity, and Class Action Litigation.Mark Cohen. Vanderbilt University Law School.  (2007).

 Car Financing for Low and Moderate Income Consumers.Remar Sutton & Kirsten Moy. The Aspen Institute, The Consumer Task Force for Automotive Issues, with funding by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2007).

New California Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights: New Law Brings Sweeping Changes to New, Used Car Buying. Josh Ridout, Consumer Action. (2006).

Double Jeopardy: Why the Poor Pay More.Dick Mendel. The Annie E. Casey Foundation.ADVOCASEY. (2005).

Car Title Lending: Driving Borrowers to Financial Ruin.Amanda Quester & Jean Ann Fox. Center for Responsible Lending & Consumer Federation of America.(2005).

  Driven into Debt-CFA Car Title Loan Store and Online Survey. Jean Ann Fox & Elizabeth Guy. Consumer Federation of America. (2005).

Hidden Auto Finance Markup: The Costs and Impact on New Jersey Consumers. New Jersey Citizen Action. (2005).

Expert Report of Economist and Lawyer Ian Ayers. American Honda Finance Corporation Class Action Lawsuit. Nashville, Tennessee (2004).

Auto Finance Add-Ons: Little Bang for the Buck.Sharon Hernandez-Darrow, Consumers Union.(2003).

Rip-Off Nation: Auto Dealers' Swindling of America.Public Citizen, Report.  (2003).

Ford Settlement Agreement. This class action was filed on April 16, 2002, challenging the “mark-up policy” as being in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq. (the "ECOA"). Nashville Tennesee, November 2006.