Toyota’s U.S.-based financing arm was fined $60 million Monday by a government consumer watchdog group for preventing auto buyers from canceling unwanted add-ons to their car loans, and other illegal practices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said that Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act by stopping borrowers from canceling product bundles that added to their car payments, withholding or issuing incorrect refunds, and falsely claiming that borrowers had missed payments — which hurt their credit reports.
After thousands of complaints by consumers, a CFPB investigation found that TMCC prevented consumers from canceling bundled coverage products, including Guaranteed Asset Protection and Credit Life and Accidental Health insurance, by making the process “unreasonably difficult.”…
