QUESTION
What actions have been taken regarding predatory auto loans?
0:40:49
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78 sec
Commissioner Ortiz discusses the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's actions against predatory auto loans, highlighting $7 million in restitution and penalties from used car dealership investigations.
- The city launched initiatives against predatory loans a decade ago but faced challenges due to low uptake on program initiatives.
- Over $7 million has been secured in restitution and civil penalties from used car dealership violations under the Adams Administration.
- New legislation introduced between 2016 and 2017 improved regulation over used car dealerships, enhancing disclosure and record-keeping requirements.
- Lessons from past initiatives were used to strengthen consumer protection and dealership regulation from 2014 onwards.
Julie Menin
0:40:49
So I spoke in my opening statement about, you know, an initiative that we launched a decade ago on auto loans.
0:40:55
Can you give the committees an update on what is happening in terms of predatory loans?
0:41:00
What is it?
0:41:00
And you mentioned some of it in your testimony.
0:41:03
What is the agency doing to deal with that issue?
Carlos Ortiz
0:41:07
Yes.
0:41:07
Of course.
0:41:08
I think in some of the the work and that we've seen through our used car dealership investigations and inspections and and in response to complaints.
0:41:15
I think it's some of the the core work that we do at the agency.
0:41:18
As I mentioned under the Adams Administration, we've been able to secure more than $7,000,000 in restitution and civil penalties around used card dealerships.
0:41:27
With respect to the initiative that you mentioned from 2014, my understanding from that time is that we put out an RFEI and an RFP for that program initiative.
0:41:37
However, there was a low uptake on that response that made the program unviable at the time.
0:41:42
That said, I think we took the lessons of that initiative and and the goals of it in terms of providing more information to consumers and use that to implement new legislation that came out in 2016 2017.
0:41:53
Which has strengthened our hands in terms of regulating used car dealerships, particularly with respect to disclosure requirements, but also robust record keeping requirements.
0:42:01
And that has borne through now.
0:42:03
2014 to now of our of our secondhand card dealer work.