The Expert Podcast

Some major automotive finance companies are starting to go out of business. What does that mean for you as a borrower if you have a loan open with one of these companies? The latest domino to fall is a company called American Car Center. American Car Center is a Buy Here Pay Here chain that operated over 40 locations across 10 states, and it says they’re closing its doors and firing 288 people, terminated at the end of the business day. What that means is they’re not even going to process any more paperwork.

If you have a loan with this company and you're making payments, American Car Center is not going to be there to process your paperwork. What does that mean for you? Well, you might not have to make any more payments, depending on who takes it over. But the big question is: how are you going to get your title?

What we recommend you do immediately is file with your state’s Dealer Licensing Division for title recovery. That’s number one. Number two is to see about starting the civil lien process to have your jurisdiction declare you the owner of the vehicle.

Now remember, we’re not attorneys, and we're not giving you legal advice. You may want to get legal advice from an attorney to find out what your rights are, your consumer protection rights, and other rights. However, you should start this process early. Don’t wait until the end of your loan – a year, a year and a half, or six months from now. By then, there may not be any more funding available from the restitution fund. You want to start this process early.

In the meantime, if you continue making payments, you might be wasting money if you don’t have to make them. On the other hand, if you stop making payments, you might lose out on getting your title because you're in default. It’s crucial to start this process early and get some filings done to make sure that whatever rights you have coming to you, to get your title or lien release from American Car Center, are not jeopardized because you didn’t take action fast enough or took the wrong kind of action.

Make sure you get on this right away if you are a customer of American Car Center, or really, any other lender that goes out of business. You want to start this process right away.