As Independence Day nears, both Toyota Financial Services and Lexus Financial Services are honoring the men and women in uniform and their families with a new program that waives remaining lease payments for Gold Star spouses and families.
Gold Star spouses and families are relatives of service members who die or are “catastrophically injured” in the line of duty. The program will allow the customer’s family to return the vehicle and TFS will forgive any remaining lease payments and waive any end-of-lease fees included in the lease contract.
Protection for Gold Star spouses and families has been a topic of import for lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In April, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C) introduced a bipartisan bill that would expand financial protections for Gold Star spouses and families by allowing them to terminate a residential or motor vehicle lease within one year of the death or injury without a penalty or additional financial obligation. Currently, finance companies are not obligated by law to allow Gold Star families out of their auto lease in the event of death or catastrophic injury; financial institutions do so on a voluntary basis.
In addition to TFS’s new lease waiver program, the captive offers a $500 rebate for active duty service members and veterans within two years of discharge on new Toyota vehicles that are financed or leased through TFS.
