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Consumer Finance Insights
April 4, 2018

DOJ Brings Suit Against California Auto Lender Under SCRA

​On March 28, 2018, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced it had filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California against an auto lender for allegedly repossessing​​​ the vehicles of members of the armed forces protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), 50 U.S.C. § 3952.  According to the complaint, which is based on a grievance filed with the DOJ by a servicemember, the lender repossessed the servicemember’s vehicle the day she began active military service.  The DOJ alleges the lender did so without first obtaining a court order as required under SCRA.  The DOJ also alleges the lender has a practice of improperly requiring servicemembers to submit their military orders directly to the lender, rather than independently accessing the servicemember database provided by the Department of Defense.​