Exeter Finance of Irving has grown quickly over recent years by disbursing more than $4 billion in auto loans to people with subprime credit scores, many of whom are months behind on payments; Exeter often adds substantial interest charges without explaining them fully.

Deborahlyn Wells from Kentucky notified Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office when her Exeter loan payment fell behind, yet his office closed it without reply.

Credit Score Requirements

Santander Consumer USA came under regulatory fire in 2018, prompting its executives to switch lenders: Exeter Finance. Exeter specialises in subprime car loans for individuals with poorer credit than would typically qualify for traditional loans from Santander; moreover, when loans go bad they often extend terms aggressively while state attorneys general fail to enforce laws against such practices.

Jessica Patterson of Oklahoma took out a loan with Exeter to purchase a used car, but when payments became difficult she became behind on payments and couldn’t keep up. Although Exeter extended her payment schedule twice for free extensions to help reorganize finances she still couldn’t make the monthly payment as interest mounted quickly beyond her budget; consequently she began relying on donations at local churches as food aid sources as well as driving her children to school free meal sites to access free meals.

Exeter boasts that they take steps to help borrowers avoid default by communicating how interest charges and late fees accrue, and how extending loans affect the overall costs of vehicles. Yet documents reviewed by ProPublica show that for years Exeter did not fully explain its extension process – notices sent this year to borrowers indicate deferral of interest charges will add to principal balance but do not list specific dollar amounts – instead direct them to call a toll-free number for more information.

Credit Score Range

Exeter Finance is the nation’s top lender of high-interest auto loans, serving 2.8 percent of subprime borrowers nationwide. Working with approximately 10,500 car dealers, Exeter offers loans to consumers who cannot qualify for traditional loans; typically providing six year terms on its loans.

Exeter provides its customers with options to skip payments and extend loan terms, in order to avoid repossession but this adds thousands in interest charges – though many borrowers feel Exeter doesn’t disclose all associated costs clearly enough.

Matthew Hutchinson was rear-ended near Vancouver in early 2022 and his truck flipped over the center median into oncoming traffic, damaging it beyond repair. Although insurance covered his wrecked truck’s cost, leaving a crippling Exeter loan balance; Hutchinson decided to contact Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson to complain about this injustice.

Ferguson did not pursue Hutchinson’s complaint, declining to comment. Nonetheless, his company continued to harass him: phone calls began arriving regularly starting in September 2022.

Since 2008’s financial crisis, several states have taken measures against predatory lenders; Exeter remains one of these. To assess their lending practices, ProPublica reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Byard Duncan joined by Scripps News’ Patrick Terpstra and Mollie Simon conducted extensive interviews with both borrowers and former Exeter employees as part of an examination by ProPublica and Scripps News.

Credit Score Minimum

Exeter Finance, owned by Blackstone and providing loans with FICO scores below 660 to consumers nationwide with low credit, provides loans backed by asset-backed securities to consumers purchasing cars through dealerships and financing them through loans they provide through Exeter Finance loans. Regulatory filings show the company has provided $4 billion worth of auto loans; many of which were extended to buyers with FICO scores below 660.

Jessica Patterson braced herself before opening the letter from Exeter Finance. Though the note didn’t address specifics about her situation, Jessica knew what would come: another loan extension had been sent her way by Exeter Finance in recent years – all with one goal in mind: keeping Jessica out of defaulting while adding thousands in interest payments to her debt burden.

The company claims on its website to offer second chances to those with poor credit through used car dealers; however, Patterson found this practice often worsens his debt and forced him toward foreclosure.

Federal law forbids lenders from engaging in unfair, deceptive or abusive acts; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action last year against another subprime lender engaging in similar practices as Exeter; yet no enforcement actions have been taken against Exeter even as their complaints increased significantly in recent years.

Credit Score Maximum

Exeter, owned by Warburg Pincus and operating with one of the highest market shares among subprime auto lenders, has consistently been profitable over its last two years, according to regulatory filings.

As with hundreds of thousands of other Americans, Jessica Patterson used Exeter loans to purchase a Kia. However, after three years her payments barely made any headway on their original debt – instead of helping Jessica catch up, the company kept lending more money and collecting interest monthly – ultimately seizing the vehicle itself.

Exeter Capital makes money by providing loans to people unable to meet their current payments. While details about its lending activities remain unavailable, Exeter grants typically carry thousands of dollars of interest charges and the number of extensions granted has skyrocketed since 2016 according to public records and interviews with former employees.

Exeter’s practices have caught the attention of state attorneys general. Massachusetts AG Maura Healey is currently looking into how Exeter loan extensions may cost consumers thousands and lead to repossessions, potentially violating state consumer protection laws. Yet no major enforcement actions by regulators have taken place even as complaints about it triple in number; using an exemption in the Consumer Financial Protection Act as an avenue of escape, Exeter manages to remain unscathed from any major actions being taken against it.