Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced a $694 million settlement with Credit Acceptance Corp. after a multistate investigation into predatory auto lending. For consumers who were steered into loans they could not carry, the agreement brings direct debt relief, restitution and lender rules that will govern how risky loans are made.
Oregon’s share is just over $754,000, with $548,431 in debt relief for 58 Oregonians, $96,142.35 in restitution for 67 Oregonians, and $109,772.03 going directly to the state. Rayfield said, “This settlement holds Credit Acceptance accountable for years of predatory lending and dealer abuse and it puts money and real debt relief back in the hands of the Oregonians who were impacted.”
Credit Acceptance and 40 states
40 other states joined the settlement, which follows allegations that Credit Acceptance Corp. was responsible for vehicle loans consumers could not afford and allowed dealers to pack contracts with unwanted add-on products. The company was accused of using internal scoring to issue low-rated loans even while predicting that many borrowers would default or fail to repay even the principal balance.
$60 million in cash restitution will go to consumers nationwide who received particularly risky loans between Nov. 1, 2015 and Nov. 30, 2025. Credit Acceptance Corp. must also provide $388 million in debt relief to borrowers whose vehicles were repossessed and $246 million in debt relief to consumers whose vehicles were not repossessed, letting them keep their cars.
Seven years of new limits
Seven years of restrictions now sit at the center of the deal: Credit Acceptance Corp. must cap vehicle prices at 109% of retail book value for certain consumers, stop dealers from inflating prices based on creditworthiness, and provide pre-loan risk disclosures. It must also build pre-purchase and post-purchase processes that flag added products and make cancellations easier.
December 2025 starts a separate off-ramp for high-risk loans originated from that point, giving qualifying consumers 95% debt relief. For those borrowers, Credit Acceptance Corp. cannot file collections lawsuits for a five-year period, and the company must pay an additional $15 million to the participating state attorney generals.
Nov. 2, 2026 deadline
Nov. 2, 2026 is the date the settlement is scheduled to take effect, and Credit Acceptance Corp. will directly notify customers eligible for debt relief while an independent claims administrator contacts consumers eligible for cash restitution. Rayfield said, “For struggling consumers, these kinds of loans can become a debt trap that is almost impossible to escape.”
