PIRG comments to the FTC on its auto finance rulemaking

Americans owe more for their cars than ever before. Dealerships using misleading, abusive or predatory tactics make the problem worse. PIRG joins our coalition partners in asking the FTC to rein in bad car dealerships and protect consumers.

Buying a car is expensive and often requires taking on thousands in debt.

The FTC continues its progress towards writing new rules to protect consumers from the misleading, abusive and predatory practices too often found at car dealerships. As a part of its comment period, PIRG worked with a coalition of 11 other consumer groups to put together a 100-page document of relevant legal cases, recent data, vetted policy recommendations and consumer stories to help the FTC write meaningful rules to save people money when shopping for a car.

Those comments are available for download above.

Topics
Authors

R.J. Cross

Director, Our Online Life Program; and Don't Sell My Data Campaign, PIRG

R.J. focuses on the intersection of tech and people. Her work ranges from the risks of commercialization of personal data, to consumer harms like scams and data breaches, to manipulative targeted advertising, to keeping kids safe online. In her work at Frontier Group, she has authored research reports on government transparency, consumer debt and predatory auto lending, and has testified before Congress. Her work has appeared in WIRED magazine, CBS Mornings and USA Today, among other outlets. When she’s not protecting the public interest, she is an avid reader, fiction writer and birder. Though she lives in Boston, she will always consider herself a Kansan at heart.

Ed Mierzwinski

Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG

Ed oversees U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program, helping to lead national efforts to improve consumer credit reporting laws, identity theft protections, product safety regulations and more. Ed is co-founder and continuing leader of the coalition, Americans For Financial Reform, which fought for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including as its centerpiece the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was awarded the Consumer Federation of America's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in 2006, Privacy International's Brandeis Award in 2003, and numerous annual "Top Lobbyist" awards from The Hill and other outlets. Ed lives in Virginia, and on weekends he enjoys biking with friends on the many local bicycle trails.