Prof. Prentiss Cox ’90 Quoted in ProPublica About the Lack of Legal Action Against a Subprime Auto Loan Lender

Prof. Prentiss Cox ’90 was quoted in ProPublica about a auto-loan lender that has received little or no legal action against it despite accusations of predatory lending practices. Exeter Finance has received numerous complaints for making high-interest loans to consumers who couldn’t afford them. Officials allege that when those borrowers got into financial trouble, they were allowed to delay payments without receiving disclosure of steep fees. Subsequently, many customers lost their cars because they were unable to make payments. While in the spring of 2020, attorneys general from nearly three dozen states announced a landmark legal settlement with the nation’s largest auto lender for risky borrowers, Santander Consumer USA, today a limited amount of resources may be the primary reason for the recent lack of action against companies like Exeter. Prof. Cox said that attorneys general often have limited staff and money to bring cases against companies “and you bet players like subprime auto lenders know that.”