F&I — Are you a target of class action lawyers
With the recent increased scrutiny and resultant lawsuits surrounding F&I practices at dealerships, proper F&I compliance with federal and state laws has become an important element of a dealership’s operations.
While F&I abuses, deceptive trade practices, and the resultant class action lawsuits are widely known, which hopefully will decrease and deter occurrences, customer oriented dealers who strive to comply with the myriad of rules and regulations are finding problems in their F&I department practice processes and procedures. These problems are due to inadvertent mistakes, overlooked items, or the dealer simply wasn’t aware that a certain law or rule was in place that required compliance.
Are You at Risk?
If you answer "no" or you are not sure of the answer, you may be at risk.
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Do you use an F&I menu to present to all your customers all of your products?
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Are you positive there are no payment or rate packing on deals?
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Are you sure that 100% of the customers who are denied credit receive an adverse action notice?
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Do you have documentation that all cash and credit deals have cleared OFAC?
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Are you sure the customer has signed every form?
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Do you know if all credit card deposits have been disclosed to the customers financing source?
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Do you know the appropriate date to use when a deal is redone?
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Are all the facts identical on the buyers order, credit application, and retail or lease agreement?
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Are you sure negative equity is properly disclosed in the deal?
Confidential Assessment of Your F&I Practices
To help reduce any risk you may have in your F&I department, you can enter into an independent engagement with Plante & Moran to review your policy, procedures, deal files, etc. The results of the findings will only be disclosed to you.
Outcome
The assessment and suggestions will help you:
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Have a consistent compliant process
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Reduce your risk of being targeted by class action lawyers
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Assure your employees are knowledgeable as to the risks associated with sloppy paperwork
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Improve customer satisfaction
About Plante & Moran
Plante & Moran has been providing audit, tax, and business advisory services to auto dealers for more than 80 years
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11th largest CPA firm in the United States, with 17 offices throughout the Great Lakes Region
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More than 1300 partners and staff
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Providing services to over 300 dealerships
To schedule your F&I assessment, contact Jim Bayson at 800.544.0203, ext. 3249 or Daryl Kaiser at 800.544.0203, ext. 3432.
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