I was perusing a speech given a few days ago by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin before the Council of Institutional Investors and discovered an odd, off-hand reference to auto finance that deserves attention:
As anyone knows who has ever had to wade through the jungle of mortgage disclosure forms when buying a house, or discovered that the interest rates on their credit card balance went up retroactively, or tried to finance a car only to have the terms changed after purchase, our current approach to consumer financial protection is entirely inadequate.
Financing terms changed after purchase? I personally don’t recall hearing of such a practice. I’ve reached out to the Treasury Department for clarification, but meanwhile it seems as though Geithner & Co. have found a new pet regulatory project related to auto finance.
