State AG Suing Auto Lender to Enforce Debt Collection Investigation Subpoena

West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw has filed suit against Fast Auto Loans, Inc., a Virginia title lender, for refusing to turn over its records in defiance of an investigative subpoena. The suit also names Georgia-based Community Loans of America, Inc., the owner of Fast Auto Loans, and Robert I. Reich, president and CEO of both companies.

Several West Virginia consumers alleged that they were unlawfully harassed by Fast Auto Loans, which repeatedly contacted them, their friends, family members, and employers by telephone to pressure or shame them into making payments. If consumers were not able to pay, Fast Auto sent agents into West Virginia to seize their motor vehicles.

On March 2, McGraw’s office issued an investigative subpoena to determine the scope of Fast Auto Loans’ debt collection activities in West Virginia from its startup in 2003 up to the present.

“Title loans” are high-interest loans that are secured by the ownership titles for motor vehicles and not permitted in West Virginia. When consumers default on title loans, they lose possession of their vehicles to the lender regardless of the amount owed or the value of the vehicle.

“We cannot prevent consumers from traveling to other states to get ill-advised title and payday loans,” Attorney General McGraw said. “But when companies contact West Virginians who allegedly default on the loans, they must obey our state’s debt collection laws. If companies break these laws, my office will not hesitate to intervene.”