New ProPublica investigation into Texas-based auto lender
Posted by byard_duncan@reddit | plano | View on Reddit | 6 comments
Byard Duncan here, a reporter at the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica. I and my co-reporter Ryan Gabrielson spent a year investigating Exeter Finance, one of the largest subprime auto lenders in the U.S. Exeter is based in Irving, about 30 minutes from Plano.
Our story is out today. I’m sharing here (with the blessing of the mods) because I thought members of this community might be interested. https://propub.li/4gphD7E
My team and I also built a free calculator tool that helps consumers understand the hidden cost of deferring car loan payments. Check that out here: https://propub.li/47mt8bW
If you have an experience/expertise you’d like to share, please feel free to do so using the form at the bottom of our story. We read everything that comes in.
degelia@reddit
THANK YOU for the work you do OP!!
byard_duncan@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the kind words.
sfa1500@reddit
People reporting this post. We appreciate your efforts to protect against spam or anything of the sort. The author of this article is the submitter and previously requested permission to post it with us. We have granted it even though Exeter is based in Irving, we felt it was relevant enough to Plano to be submitted.
Upvote, downvote, or abstain the post with your heart.
byard_duncan@reddit (OP)
Thank you.
Cloudy_Automation@reddit
While I feel sorry for the people, they were desperate to get vehicles, and only the predatory lenders seemed to be willing to lend to them. If the predatory lenders go out of business because they can't make money lending to people with poor credit, who will be there to lend those people money? There are no easy answers, only rotten choices.
For the people who got their debt forgiven, they can expect one more surprise, a 1099-C, with the amount of forgiven debt to be treated as income.
mechasquare@reddit
Interesting article. Subprime lending has been around for a long time and has always targeted those who are not that financially literate. The wrinkle here is that Carmax pushed Exeter for those who wouldn't qualify for normal lending. Car prices in generally have been insane in recent years and covid exploded the used car market, putting affordable transportation out of reach for many folks.