Buy Here Pay Here Chain Is Probed

Los Angeles Times
April 21, 2012
Bensinger, Ken

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched an investigation into Phoenix-based DriveTime Automotive Group, one of the largest Buy Here Pay Here used-vehicle chains. DriveTime, with 90 dealerships nationwide, is the first Buy Here Pay Here company to be investigated by the federal agency. The Buy Here Pay Here industry consists of used-car dealers that lend to people with damaged credit by offering direct, in-house financing rather than using outside lenders like banks or credit unions. Borrowers have griped, however, about high prices, exorbitant interest rates, onerous payments, and speedy repossessions that often ruin their credit and drag them into bankruptcy. In January, CFPB director Richard Cordray said the industry is a priority for the fledgling regulator. The investigation marks the most prominent step taken to rein in an industry that has flourished below the radar of regulatory scrutiny for years.
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