F&R Auto’s lender agrees to $733K settlement

Will provide relief to those who bought lemons from Westport dealer

Posted 12/28/18

WESTPORT — The Connecticut lending company that provided financing to a Westport used car dealership found to be selling “defective and inoperable vehicles” will provide refunds and debt relief to …

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F&R Auto’s lender agrees to $733K settlement

Will provide relief to those who bought lemons from Westport dealer

Posted

WESTPORT — The Connecticut lending company that provided financing to a Westport used car dealership found to be selling “defective and inoperable vehicles” will provide refunds and debt relief to resolve accusations that it facilitated the sale of faulty vehicles.

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced Thursday that Sensible Auto Lending LLC, of Connecticut, will provide $733,925 to assist customers who bought vehicles at Westport’s F&R Auto and three other dealerships. F&R had already been hit with a $450,000 consent judgment by the AG’s Office for selling unsafe and defective vehicles

An investigation by the AG’s office concluded that Sensible facilitated the dealerships’ sales by supplying the dealerships with financing, despite knowing of consumer complaints against the dealerships and of their high breakdown and repossession rates.

“This settlement will give consumers victimized by these dealerships a clean slate by refunding them for faulty cars and repairing their credit,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “Sensible Auto has also changed its business practices so that consumers are protected from fraud in the future.”

“The investigation also found that Sensible violated the Massachusetts Cost of Consumer Credit Disclosure Act by failing to account for the cost of certain insurance policies that consumers were required to purchase. These Vendor Single Interest insurance policies are intended to protect lenders when a vehicle is damaged or unrecoverable, but Sensible used its VSI claims to recover for credit losses. This practice effectively caused the annual percentage rates on consumers’ loans to exceed the state statutory cap of 21 percent,” the attorney general’s office said.

The settlement calls for Sensible to provide refunds to some consumers, including those who bought a vehicle from F&R, complained of mechanical defects, and lost their vehicle to repossession. Sensible will also waive all outstanding deficiency obligations for the hundreds of consumers who purchased vehicles from the dealerships and will repair these consumers’ credit with credit reporting agencies. Sensible will refund some interest payments.

The attorney general’s office said Sensible cooperated fully with the investigation and made substantial changes to its business practices.

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