AFN analysis points to miniscule wrongful repo rate (Under the Hood)

The Department of Justice reached a $500,000 settlement with CarMax regarding allegedly wrongful repossessions barely three weeks after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) claimed that the Trump Administration had “kneecapped” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ’s ability to protect consumers from repo errors. The DOJ’s Feb. 23 consent order asserted that CarMax had violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act when it repossessed military members’ vehicles without obtaining necessary court documents, recovered vehicles after owners had informed the lender that they were serving in the military and failed to extend SCRA protections to reservists who had received orders to report for active duty. CarMax agreed to compensate servicemembers $15,000 each, plus any lost equity in their repossessed vehicles. The financier also agreed to pay a $79,380 civil penalty to the U.S. government and to revise its repo policies. In all, “at least 28” servicemembers were affected by CarMax’s allegedly wrongful repos from 2018 and 2023. In other words, per the DOJ’s claim, CarMax averaged five erroneous repos per year. Reviewing wrongful repo complaints Whereas any improper vehicle repossession is disruptive and, perhaps, calamitous for consumers, the frequency of these errors must be kept in perspective. The task becomes challenging because lender-specific repossession statistics are sparse. And the subset of data related to wrongful repos is even harder to procure. To that end, Auto Finance News used AI to analyze 80,000 CFPB complaints lodged by consumers from 2018 through 2025. Only grievances that included written narratives were examined, since only those would provide a means to determine whether complaints related to what consumers deemed wrongful repos. Among the 42,938 complaints with narratives, 21% contained keywords like “repossess,” “repo,” “repossession,” “repoed,” “towed” or “seized my vehicle.” Complaints were further filtered for phrases including “wrongful,” “error,” “did not default,” “never missed,” “not behind” and “unauthorized.” Within the nearly 9,000 repo-related grievances, 23% were classified as relating to erroneous repossession. Admittedly, CFPB complaints are not wholly representative of all repo and wrongful repo claims , yet they serve as a barometer for industry trends. For instance, some consumers may file grievances directly with their lenders as opposed to with the CFPB. Similarly, not all complaints filed with the CFPB indicate true instances of wrongful repossession. Wrongful repo rates rise AFN ’s analysis showed that the erroneous repo ratio has generally been on an upward trajectory in recent years. The 99 wrongful repo complaints lodged with the CFPB in 2018 translated to 16% of all CFPB repossession complaints that year. By comparison, the 733 wrongful repo complaints filed in 2025 equated to 27% of all repossession complaints. But for CarMax, that ratio was only 13.8%, with 11 wrongful repo claims relative to 80 repossession complaints overall. Even though claims of unauthorized repossession have been climbing as of late, consumers appear most concerned about the impact the repossession will have on their credit reports, according to the CFPB data. Other prevalent repo complaint themes included deficiency balances, vehicle redemption, hardship relief and high interest rates. In that vein, when wrongful repo complaints are tallied against all auto-related CFPB complaints, the numbers barely reach 4%. Here’s a look at the data. In 2018, 1.7% of the 5,887 auto loan- and lease-related CFPB complaints referenced wrongful repossession, according to AFN ’s analysis. By 2023, auto complaint volume more than doubled to 12,800, yet wrongful repo claims accounted for only 2.8% of them. Last year, complaint volume nearly doubled again — topping 20,000 — yet erroneous repossession assertions grew to only 3.7%. For CarMax, specifically, that ratio was only 1.2%, according to AFN ’s analysis. Industrywide, repossessions have been on the rise as consumers struggle to make payments amid rising cost-of-living expenses . When wrongful repo claims are analyzed relative to industrywide repossession levels, they barely register. In 2018, 1.6 million vehicles were repossessed, yet based on the CFPB’s complaint database, only 99 consumers alleged wrongful repossessions — equivalent to 0.01%. The rate of unauthorized repo claims inched up to 0.02% in 2022 and to 0.03% last year, according to AFN ’s analysis. Since few financiers report repossession data by number of contracts, it’s difficult to correlate CFPB wrongful repo complaint data with specific company results. But for the ones that do, the ratios cap out at 0.1%. Take Ford Credit , for instance. The captive reported 24,000 repossessions in 2025 compared with 21,000 in 2024 and 16,000 in 2023. In those years, respectively, consumers filed six, one and four wrongful repo complaints with the CFPB, translating to ratios of 0.03%, 0.004% and 0.03%. Meanwhile, subprime lender Consumer Portfolio Services reported 7,173 vehicles in repossession as of Sept. 30, 2025, up from 6,222 in the year-prior period. Based on AFN ’s analysis, references to unauthorized repossessions occurred in 0.1% of CPS’ 2025 complaints and in 0.03% of its 2024 complaints. Broadly, the nation’s largest financiers likely repossess anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 vehicles per year. Based on AFN ’s analysis of CFPB complaints, about one repossession per 1,000 is carried out in error. At that rate, they’re just a blip on the radar. Auto Finance News will present multiple invaluable events for industry professionals in 2026, starting with Auto Finance Summit East and Auto Finance Capital Summit in May. Register by March 27 for early-bird savings. To see event agendas and register, visit autofinance.live .

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AFN analysis points to miniscule wrongful repo rate (Under the Hood)

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