Toyota Motor Credit Corporation
On November 20, 2023, the Bureau issued an order against Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (“Toyota Motor Credit”), which is the United States-based auto-financing arm of Toyota Motor Corporation and one of the largest indirect auto lenders in the country. Toyota Motor Credit provides financing for vehicles and optional “add-on” products and services sold with the vehicles. These add-ons include Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP), which waives some of a consumer’s remaining loan balance if their car is totaled but they still owe money on the loan even with car insurance, and Credit Life and Accidental Health (CLAH), which is designed to pay a remaining balance if the consumer dies or becomes disabled. The Bureau found that Toyota Motor Credit violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by: (1) unfairly and abusively making it unreasonably difficult for consumers to cancel unwanted add-ons, including when consumers complained that dealers had forced add-ons on consumers without their consent; (2) unfairly failing to ensure consumers received refunds of unearned GAP and CLAH premiums when they paid off their loans early or ended lease agreements early, making the products no longer of any value to consumers; and (3) unfairly failing to provide accurate refunds to consumers who canceled their vehicle service agreements as a result of flawed system logic. The Bureau also found that Toyota Motor Credit violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its implementing Regulation V by falsely reporting customer accounts as delinquent even though customers had already returned their vehicles and failing to promptly correct the negative information it had sent to consumer reporting agencies; and failing to maintain reasonable policies and procedures to ensure payment information it sent to consumer reporting agencies was accurate. The order requires Toyota Motor Credit to pay $48 million in consumer redress and a $12 million civil money penalty. The order also requires Toyota Motor Credit to stop its unlawful practices and come into compliance with the law and prohibits incentive-based employee compensation or performance measurements in relation to add-on products.
CONSUMER CONTACT INFORMATION
Consumers with inquiries related to redress under the order may contact Toyota Motor Credit Corporation by toll-free phone at 1-833-462-3599; by email at inquiries@tmccremediation.com; by mail at Toyota CFPB Remediation, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391; or in person at Kroll Settlement Administration, 2000 Market Street Ste 2700, Philadelphia, PA 19103.