Honda Financial Services Customer Service American Honda Finance Corporation is a financing company that offers automobile loans to consumers. The lender provides auto financing to buyers of new and used Honda or Acura vehicles. It also provides motorcycles, power equipment and a wide range of related accessories. The company operates in the United States and sells its products through a network of dealerships and online.
In a complaint filed today in federal court, the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused Honda of engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander borrowers in its auto lending business. The Department and the CFPB allege that Honda permitted car dealers to charge markups of up to 1.25 percentage points or more over the interest rate that Honda set, based on a borrower’s objective credit-related factors. As a result, thousands of affected borrowers paid higher interest rates on their auto loans than they would have if Honda had not discriminated against them.
As part of its settlement, Honda has agreed to pay $24 million to settle the case. The money will go to borrowers who were harmed by the company’s discriminatory pricing and compensation practices. Under the terms of the settlement, an administrator will locate and distribute payments to affected borrowers at no cost to them. The administrator will make regular reports to the Department and the CFPB on its activity.