Penalty Amount
$694,000,000
Virginia and 40 other state attorneys general settled with subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC) for $694 million in cash restitution and debt relief. The settlement resolves allegations that CAC originated loans it knew or should have known consumers could not afford, and that it encouraged and failed to prevent dealers from unlawfully 'packing' auto-loan contracts with unwanted Vehicle Service Contracts and GAP products. The Consent Judgment was filed September 17, 2026, with the City of Richmond Circuit Court.
CAC must provide $60 million in cash restitution to consumers who received particularly risky loans (over $2 million to Virginians), $388 million in debt relief to consumers whose cars were repossessed, and $246 million in debt relief to consumers whose cars have not been repossessed. CAC must also pay $15.5 million to the attorneys general. Injunctive terms require pre-loan risk disclosures, 'off ramps' (95% debt relief and no collections lawsuits) for loans that fail quickly, a process to prevent VSC/GAP product packing including enhanced disclosures and dealer monitoring, a seven-year price cap at 109% of retail book value for certain consumers, and processes to prevent dealers from raising prices based on credit worthiness.
Although this is a lending/consumer-finance enforcement rather than a privacy action, in-house teams at auto finance companies or dealerships should review dealer agreements and financing contracts for product-packing risk: clauses governing dealer compensation tied to add-on product sales (VSC/GAP), mandatory pre-purchase and post-purchase disclosure requirements, dealer monitoring and audit rights, cancellation mechanics for add-on products, and representations that consumers are not told products are required for financing. Contracts should also be checked for debt-relief and off-ramp obligations for failing loans, any price-markup provisions relative to retail book value, and restrictions on filing collections lawsuits against qualifying consumers.
Entity
Credit Acceptance Corporation
Industry
Financial Services"a settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC) providing $694 million in cash and debt relief to consumers"
"providing $694 million in cash and debt relief to consumers in connection with their car loans"
"The Consent Judgment was filed on September 17, 2026, for approval and entry by the City of Richmond Circuit Court."
"Virginia, along with the attorneys general for 40 other states, has entered into a settlement"
"CAC is also required to provide, on or before November 2, 2026, $388,000,000 in debt relief to consumers whose cars have been repossessed, and $246,000,000 in debt relief to consumers whose cars have not been repossessed"
"The multistate investigation resolves allegations that CAC originated loans that the company knew or should have known consumers could not afford."
$694.0M
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 40 other state attorneys general in a settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), one of the nation's largest subprime auto lenders, resolving allegations that CAC originated loans it knew or should have known consumers could not afford and encouraged or failed to prevent dealers from 'packing' CAC loans with unwanted Vehicle Service Contract (VSC) and GAP products. The settlement, announced September 17, 2026 and effective November 2, 2026, directs $694 million in cash restitution and debt relief to consumers, plus an additional $15 million to the states, and imposes injunctive lending reforms. Note: this is a consumer-protection/lending enforcement action rather than a data privacy matter; the violation categories are best-fit mappings to the available taxonomy.
$700.0M
New York Attorney General Letitia James, leading a bipartisan coalition of 39 other states, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii's Office of Consumer Protection, secured a $700 million settlement from Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), a subprime auto lender, resolving allegations of deceptive and abusive lending. The lawsuit alleged CAC pushed tens of thousands of consumers into unaffordable loans with average interest rates above 38 percent, bundled with expensive add-on products consumers were told were mandatory or never told about, causing widespread defaults and vehicle repossessions. Note: this is a consumer-lending enforcement action rather than a privacy matter, so no privacy violation categories from the taxonomy apply.
$694.0M
Colorado and 40 other states entered into a settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), one of the nation's largest subprime auto lenders, resolving allegations that CAC originated car loans it knew or should have known consumers could not afford and that it failed to reasonably prevent dealers in its network from deceptively 'packing' Vehicle Service Contract and GAP add-on products into CAC-financed purchases. The settlement provides $694 million in cash and debt relief to consumers plus an additional $15 million to the attorneys general, and imposes injunctive reforms including loan 'off ramps,' enhanced pre-purchase and pre-loan disclosures, dealer monitoring, and a seven-year price cap at 109% of retail book value. Note: this is a consumer-lending enforcement action, not a data privacy matter; the 'dark_patterns' category is the closest available fit for the deceptive add-on sales allegations.
$75.5M
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison and a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general reached a settlement with subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corporation requiring it to pay the states $75.5 million and forgive more than $630 million in consumer debt nationwide. The settlement resolves allegations that the company financed auto loans it knew or should have known consumers could not afford, and financed the sale of expensive add-on products that consumers did not know they were purchasing. The company must also fundamentally reform its lending practices, including risk disclosures, loan balance waivers for high-risk defaults, and enhanced consent and cancellation protections for add-on products.
$694.0M
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced a $694 million multistate settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), a subprime auto lender, resolving allegations that CAC originated unaffordable loans and allowed dealers to 'pack' unwanted Vehicle Service Contracts and Guaranteed Asset Protection products into consumer loans. The settlement provides $60 million in cash restitution, $634 million in debt relief, and injunctive reforms including off ramps for risky loans, enhanced disclosures, and dealer monitoring.
Attorney General Jay Jones and a coalition of 24 attorneys general obtained a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from demanding a database of state-owned records containing personal information of 17 million CDL drivers from AAMVA and from terminating over $10 million in federal funding. The lawsuits allege DOT, FMCSA, and DHS violated federal privacy laws by secretly creating a database with no guardrails on use or sharing of Social Security numbers and no public notice.