Toyota's U.S. Financing Arm Fined by Regulators Over Loan-Product Bundling

By
Bill McColl
Bill McColl
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Bill McColl has 25+ years of experience as a senior producer and writer for TV, radio, and digital media leading teams of anchors, reporters, and editors in creating news broadcasts, covering some of the most notable news stories of the time.

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Published November 20, 2023
Toyota Motor Corp. headquarters in Tokyo in May 2023

YUICHI YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

  • Toyota's U.S. financing arm was fined $60 million by regulators who said the lender illegally kept consumers from canceling loan bundles that raised the cost of their monthly payments.
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said the company devised a "scheme" to keep the money from consumers.
  • The ruling requires Toyota to pay $48 million to those affected, and $12 million to the CFPB's victims relief fund.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM) American depositary receipts (ADRs) slipped Monday after U.S. regulators fined the American financing arm of the Japanese carmaker over its lending practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Toyota Motor Credit Corp. to pay $60 million in penalties for what it called “operating an illegal scheme to prevent borrowers from canceling product bundles that increased their monthly car loan payments.”

The CFPB said that Toyota Motor Credit, based in Plano, Texas, withheld funds or refunded incorrect amounts on bundled products, and “knowingly tarnished consumers’ credit reports with false information.”

The bureau indicated those bundled products averaged between $700 and $2,500 per loan, and that thousands complained about it to Toyota Motor Credit. However, the lender devised a plan "to retain the revenue from these products by making it extremely cumbersome to cancel, and then failed to provide proper refunds for consumers who succeeded in canceling.”

The ruling requires the company to stop the practices and reimburse harmed consumers $48 million, with the remaining $12 million going into the CFPB’s victims relief fund.?

Despite Monday’s loss of nearly 3%, Toyota Motor ADRs are up about 36% year-to-date.

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  1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "CFPB Orders Toyota Motor Credit To Pay $60 Million for Illegal Lending and Credit Reporting Misconduct."

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