Community
JD Byrider in Massachusetts will cancel debts, pay $1.5 million, provide restitution to thousands
BOSTON – The used car dealership JD Byrider will cancel debts, pay $1.5 million to reduce car loan payments and provide restitution to thousands of consumers, and significantly change its practices to resolve allegations that it engaged in deceptive sales of defective vehicles and predatory lending, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
In a consent judgment entered last week in Suffolk Superior Court, JD Byrider agreed to provide significant monetary and injunctive relief to resolve a lawsuit filed by the AG’s Office in September 2017 that alleged the dealership took advantage of consumers and violated the Massachusetts consumer protection law. According to the AG’s complaint, JD Byrider routinely used aggressive and misleading advertising and sales techniques to sell consumers cars it should have known the consumers could not afford, putting the consumers at high risk of default and repossession.
“Auto dealers can’t profit by saddling vulnerable consumers with predatory car loans that are doomed to fail,” said AG Healey. “This judgment secures significant relief for the thousands of Massachusetts car buyers cheated by JD Byrider’s misconduct.”
The AG’s complaint alleged that JD Byrider sold its cars at more than twice their actual value, forced consumers into loans with high interest rates without regard for the consumers’ credit qualifications, and sold consumers expensive extended service contracts that stipulated they could only get their cars repaired by JD Byrider. The complaint alleged JD Byrider employed a faulty underwriting process through which it vastly underestimated consumers’ expenses to qualify them for loans they could not afford. Due to these practices, JD Byrider’s used car loans failed at excessive rates, causing substantial long-term economic harm to thousands of consumers.
This consent judgment follows a court decision awarding summary judgment in favor of the AG’s Office in January 2020. The court determined that JD Byrider issued loans to vulnerable consumers that the dealership knew or should have known the consumers could not afford. JD Byrider agreed to resolve the entirety of the AG’s lawsuit with today’s consent judgment, providing restitution and relief to consumers who purchased cars at JD Byrider’s Springfield, Brockton, Dorchester (now closed), and Dartmouth locations between 2013 and 2017.
In the consent judgment the company agrees to:
-Pay $1.5 million, of which half will be used to reduce ongoing payments for consumers with active loans who purchased their cars prior to 2018.
-Provide eligible consumers whose cars were repossessed the option to cancel outstanding debts and repair their credit from the repossession.
-Change its business practices to provide fair disclosures and enhanced repair services, including by posting prices on its cars and providing rental cars in certain repair circumstances.
-Develop a structured response process for consumer complaints received by the AG’s Office.
JD Byrider is a franchise of Byrider Franchising LLC, a national franchisor of JD Byrider “Buy Here Pay Here” dealerships located across the country that typically provide loans to finance the cars they sell. The AG’s lawsuit was filed against the local Massachusetts franchise Venturcap Investment Group, which operates in Brockton, Dartmouth, Springfield, and formerly in Dorchester.
Consumers who are eligible for relief as part of this settlement will be contacted directly by the AG’s Office.
-
Community7 years ago
National Shrine of La Salette Festival of Lights 2017 set to begin
-
Community6 years ago
Massachusetts State Police looking for good home for retired dogs
-
Crime6 years ago
Fall River ranked most dangerous city in Massachusetts according to report
-
latest7 years ago
Durfee student allegedly overdoses on marijuana
-
Community6 years ago
Video of Fall River Police goes viral
-
Causes6 years ago
Missing Fall River woman found deceased
-
Crime7 years ago
Fall River Police add names to most wanted list
-
Causes6 years ago
Fall River teenager reported missing has been found
Darius
March 10, 2020 at 12:41 pm
I got a car from them in 2018! I’m so mad! Worst mistake I’ve ever made!
Lucy Duarte
March 11, 2020 at 1:09 pm
SAME I got mine Sept 2018-at the time of purchase the NADA was $6100 They charged me $12,594 + extended warranty bringing it over $14,000. 18 months later I STILL own $10,200 and have already paid over $1000 on repairs because “the warranty does NOT pay for everything” how can I get in on this claim????