BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has announced that American Credit Acceptance LLC (ACA) and Westlake Services (Westlake) have agreed to provide $7.4 million in relief to thousands of Massachusetts consumers over allegations they charged excessive interest rates on subprime auto loans.
“There are protections in place to ensure that consumers who take out auto loans are treated fairly and not forced to pay illegal and excessive interest rates,” Healey said. “Our office will continue to make sure that these protections under state law are applied properly so that consumers are not exploited by predatory practices.”
An assurance of discontinuance mandates that the two companies eliminate interest on certain loans that allegedly include excessive interest rates. The companies will additionally forgive outstanding interest on the loans as well as reimburse those consumers who have already paid on the debts.
Healy's office said $1.7 million will be recovered from ACA while $5.7 million will be recovered from Westlake.
The settlement also mandates that the lenders pay $225,00 each to cover the implementation of the agreement.