On 10/13/2020, the CFPB issued a consent order against Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation for a number of issues relating to debt collection and repossession practices. In their release, the CFPB found that Nissan:
wrongfully repossessed vehicles;
kept personal property in consumers’ repossessed vehicles until consumers paid a storage fee;
deprived consumers paying by phone of the ability to select payment options with significantly lower fees; and,
in its loan extension agreements, made a deceptive statement that appeared to limit consumers’ bankruptcy protections.
In their release, the CFPB asserts that these practices resulted in UDAAP violations. Specifically, the CFPB stated that:
“Nissan repossessed hundreds of consumers’ vehicles despite the consumer having made payments or otherwise taken actions that should have prevented the repossession.
“Nissan’s repossession agents, with Nissan’s knowledge, demanded that consumers pay a separate, upfront storage fee for personal property contained in repossessed vehicles. These agents refused to return consumers’ personal property until the consumers paid the fee.”
“Nissan deprived consumers paying by phone of the ability to select pay-by-phone options with significantly lower fees. Numerous consumers paid $7.95 more to make a phone payment than they would have if they had known of and selected a different payment option.
When Nissan agreed to modify a consumer’s loan payments, for tens of thousands of consumers, Nissan used agreements or written confirmations that included language that created the net misimpression that consumers could not file for bankruptcy.”
The consent order requires Nissan to provide up to $1 million of cash redress to affected consumers, credit any outstanding account charges associated with wrongful repossession, and to pay a CMP of $4 million.
The full consent order can be found here.