December 15, 2014
ON THE WEB: Home Owners Borrow To Buy Vehicles
www.usedcarnews.com
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2014 MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Twenty-seven percent of consumers who have a home equity line of credit used it to purchase a vehicle.
Auction App Available For Apple, Android
AuctionEar, a mobile app developed by XCIRA that adds instantaneous audio and video to the company’s mobile bidding platform, is now available for both Apple and Android devices.
Auto Dealer Goes To Prison for Flood Cars
The operator of a New Jersey used-car dealership was sentenced to three years in prison for using fraudulent vehicle titles to sell cars damaged in Hurricane Sandy. A suspended Motor Vehicle Commission technician who helped him obtain the fraudulent vehicle titles previously was sentenced in the criminal scheme. Charges are pending against a former salesman at the dealership.
Rush - Dated Material
Julie Picard Picard became the fist woman named as general manager of Manheim Pennsylvania, the auction chain’s flagship sale and the largest auto auction in the United States. Picard was the recipient of the 2013 Laurie Dobberphul Top Achiever Award, from GE Remarketing, presented to women who continuously make a difference and are passionate about the automobile industry. Manheim has made numerous changes to its auction management in the past year, including seven new general managers put in place this fall.
Paul John The executive director of the Georgia Independent Automobile Dealers Association leads a group with approximately 2,400 members, far outpacing any other state. Georgia had 1,200 members in 2002 when John first took over dealer education. John won the Association Executive of the Year award during this year’s National Independent Automobile Dealers Association annual convention. During his acceptance speech at that convention, he challenged his fellow state executives to grow their groups and membership in the NIADA.
The former Ohio attorney general and Jeopardy champion became one of the auto industry’s least favorite people when he was named director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Cordray and his agency spent most of their first few years dealing with other forms of credit, such as mortgages and credit cards. This year the CFPB finally set its sites on auto finance. The main focus has been on claims of unequal treatment of minority groups and the way creditors handle their collections.
CFPB Claims Toyota Financial Discriminated in Auto Credit Toyota Financial Services became the latest target of federal regulators. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice are alleging that TFS’ practices resulted in discriminatory pricing of loans to certain borrowers. The regulators have informed the captive that they are prepared to initiate an enforcement proceeding unless Toyota Financial agrees to a voluntary resolution satisfactory to them. TFS received a letter from the agencies indicating they are seeking monetary relief and implementation of changes to its discretionary pricing practices and policies.
TFS said these changes could adversely affect its business but intends to continue to cooperate with the regulators In related news, the American Financial Services Association has released a comprehensive study of more than 8.2 million auto financing contracts showing that the disparity alleged by the CFPB between the amount of dealer reserve charged to minorities and non-minorities is not supported by data. The study, “Fair Lending: Implications for the Indirect Auto Finance Market,” examined the proxy methodology used by the CFPB and found significant bias and high error rates.
GWC WARRANTY HELPS DEALERS SELL MORE CARS. See back cover to find out how.
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Richard Cordray
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12/8/14 5:46 PM