General information, not legal advice. Whether any step described here helps or hurts a claim depends on your facts, your contract, and your deadlines. Nothing on this site tells you what to do in your situation; an attorney who has reviewed your documents can.
Lease & finance · Auto lender records
Credit Acceptance Corporation is one of the largest indirect auto finance companies in the country, buying and servicing retail installment contracts written by dealers for buyers with damaged or limited credit. Like the other companies on our auto lenders hub, it is a distinct legal entity from the dealership where a buyer signed, with its own public regulatory record, summarized below with a citation for every fact. If a dealer's conduct is also part of the story, a free case evaluation looks at both together.
Who Credit Acceptance Is
Credit Acceptance Corporation is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CACC) headquartered at 25505 West Twelve Mile Road, Southfield, Michigan, according to the company's own site. The company describes its business as advancing money to dealers against the loans those dealers write, purchasing consumer loans directly from dealers, and reinsuring vehicle service contracts sold alongside financed vehicles, serving dealers that sell to buyers with damaged, limited, or no credit history. The company markets to dealers rather than consumers, and most buyers first encounter its name as the assignee on the contract they signed, or later on a credit report.
The Public Enforcement Record
New York and the CFPB (2023–2026)
On January 4, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General Letitia James jointly sued Credit Acceptance in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (No. 1:23-cv-00038). The complaint alleged the company pushed unaffordable loans onto low-income buyers without adequately assessing repayment ability, misstated the actual cost of credit on loan documents, and charged actual annual percentage rates averaging 38 percent — some exceeding 100 percent — while representing a lower rate range on the paperwork. New York's portion also invoked the state's Martin Act, alleging the company misrepresented the quality of loan pools packaged into securities sold to investors. See the CFPB's January 4, 2023 press release and the New York Attorney General's announcement.
On April 29, 2025, the court granted the CFPB's motion to withdraw as a plaintiff, leaving New York to proceed alone; the company's own statement that day said it was "pleased with the CFPB's decision to withdraw from this case, which we believe never should have been brought." See the company's April 24, 2025 statement. On September 17, 2026, Credit Acceptance announced a resolution with a group of state attorneys general that the New York Attorney General describes as 39 states and the District of Columbia. The New York Attorney General's press release puts the total at $700 million, including more than $630 million in debt relief for over 55,000 consumers, $60 million in repossession-related restitution, and $15.5 million in penalties to the states. The company's own release describes $60 million to a consumer relief fund and $15.5 million to the states, plus separate balance-waiver relief, and states the resolution was "reached without any admission of fault or wrongdoing by the Company."
Massachusetts (2020–2021)
On August 31, 2020, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sued Credit Acceptance in state court, alleging the company made high-interest loans to consumers it knew or should have known could not repay them, imposed finance charges that, combined with other fees, exceeded the state's 21 percent usury ceiling, used unlawful debt collection practices including faulty repossession notices and overcharged deficiencies, and gave investors incomplete information about loan-pool risk. See the August 31, 2020 announcement. The case settled September 1, 2021, for $27.2 million in debt relief and credit repair for more than 3,000 borrowers, with required changes to the company's loan and collection practices. See the settlement announcement.
The Statutes at Issue, and How They Protect Buyers in Florida, Vermont, D.C., Michigan, and Texas
The New York and Massachusetts matters centered on unfair and deceptive lending, undisclosed loan costs, and repossession and deficiency practices. The same categories of law give buyers in every jurisdiction this firm handles direct, individual rights, separate from anything a regulator does:
- Florida. FDUTPA, sections 501.201–.213, Florida Statutes, reaches misrepresented credit terms; Article 9's repossession and deficiency rules, sections 679.609, 679.611–.614, and 679.625, Florida Statutes, govern how a lender may retake a car and calculate what's owed.
- Vermont. The Consumer Protection Act, 9 V.S.A. § 2453, with a private right under 9 V.S.A. § 2461(b) for actual damages or the consideration paid, plus up to three times that amount in exemplary damages; Article 9 repossession duties appear at 9A V.S.A. §§ 9-609, 9-611–9-614, and 9-625.
- Washington, D.C. The Consumer Protection Procedures Act, D.C. Code § 28-3904, applies without proof of reliance, with treble damages or $1,500 per violation under § 28-3905(k)(2); repossession duties appear at D.C. Code §§ 28:9-609, 28:9-611–28:9-614, and 28:9-625.
- Michigan. The Michigan Consumer Protection Act, MCL 445.903, applies to conduct not specifically authorized by another regulator, following the Michigan Supreme Court's July 31, 2026 decision in Attorney General v. Eli Lilly and Company, a recent decision lower courts are still applying. An assignee holder is subject to the buyer's claims under MCL 492.114a; repossession duties appear at MCL 440.9609, 440.9611, 440.9614, and 440.9625.
- Texas. The DTPA, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.46(b), subject to the 60-day pre-suit notice in § 17.505; repossession duties appear at Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 9.609, 9.611, 9.614, and 9.625.
Because Credit Acceptance buys contracts from dealers rather than lending directly, the FTC's Holder Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 433, and the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., are also frequently at issue: the Holder Rule can extend a dealer-level claim to the assignee, and TILA governs how the APR had to be disclosed.
What Matters If Your Loan Is With Credit Acceptance
- The contract's stated APR versus the finance charge actually assessed. The Truth in Lending disclosure box, compared against the payment history, shows whether the rate charged matches the rate disclosed.
- Whether the New York or Massachusetts settlements name a category your loan falls into. Both describe specific groups of borrowers and loan characteristics; whether a given loan matches is a question about that loan's own facts and dates.
- Repossession and deficiency paperwork. Notice of disposition, the sale price, and any written deficiency explanation are measured against the state's own Article 9 requirements.
- The dealer's role. Where a dealer's own conduct is part of the picture, the Holder Rule notice on the contract is what connects that conduct to the assignee that bought the loan.
A free case evaluation with the retail installment contract, payment history, and any notices received is how these documents are reviewed together.
Credit Acceptance Questions
Is Credit Acceptance the same company as the dealer I bought my car from?
What did the CFPB and New York allege against Credit Acceptance?
Did Credit Acceptance admit wrongdoing in the 2026 settlement?
What was the Massachusetts case about?
Loan with Credit Acceptance, and a repossession, deficiency, or dealer issue you're trying to sort out?
Submit a free case evaluationUpload your contract and documents and an attorney will review them. No cost, no obligation.
This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results depend on the facts and law of each matter; prospective clients may not obtain similar results. Statutory damages described are as set by law and are before deductions for attorney's fees and costs. Sue Your Dealer – A Law Firm, 4601 Sheridan Street, Suite 205A, Hollywood, FL 33021 · (954) 321-0507.