AFSA – Setting the Repossession Records Straight

American Financial Services Association Response to Senator Warren Inquiries on Repossession Practices

Perhaps it’s a happy coincidence that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s staff requested that AFSA submit its response letter regarding vehicle repossessions on Presidents Day.

After all, from Alexander Hamilton’s push to establish national credit to today’s vehicle finance market helping more than 80 million Americans get to work or school or to run errands every day, access to credit has always been central to the American experiment. Economic freedom and political freedom go hand in hand.

AFSA - Setting the Repossession Records Straight — Read the entire letter here. Click to open

That said, our response was detailed and sought to set the record straight on industry practices, the rarity of repossessions, and how our member companies help keep consumers in their vehicles.

Despite headlines suggesting a surge in repossessions, the data tell a more measured story. While any repossession is an unpleasant and unfortunate experience for a consumer, a 2025 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report found that more than 99 percent of financed vehicles remained in borrowers’ possession. Monthly repossession rates between 2018 and 2022 fluctuated between near-zero and just 0.75 percent of open accounts.

While repossession numbers in 2024 and 2025 were the highest since 2009, that comparison is misleading. The consumer credit base is 35 percent larger today than it was then, and the repossession rate in 2025 was 27 percent lower than during the 2009 peak of the financial crisis.

Vehicles are not repossessed overnight. A typical repossession follows months of billing statements, late-payment notices, default notifications, and pre-repossession cure notices delivered through multiple channels. Vehicle finance companies proactively reach out to struggling borrowers on a case-by-case basis, because repossession is the costliest resolution for lenders, too.

Finally, repossessions don’t occur in a legal or regulatory vacuum. There is a rigorous framework of state and federal laws, Uniform Commercial Code provisions, and robust enforcement mechanisms that govern every step, with meaningful legal remedies available to consumers if errors occur.

All of this is important to understand because vehicle financing is important to the American economy and our way of life. Our industry contributes an estimated $126 billion to U.S. GDP, supports 680,000 jobs, and enables millions of Americans to access education and employment. Which is why AFSA and its members remain committed to responsible lending, consumer education, and policies that expand — rather than restrict — access to vehicle credit.

Read the AFSA’s Letter Here!

About the AFSA

Our mission is to promote safe, ethical lending to responsible, informed borrowers and to improve and protect consumers access to credit.

Founded in 1916, the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) is the primary trade association for the consumer credit industry, protecting access to credit and consumer choice. AFSA provides the consumer credit industry and the consumers it services with a voice in Washington, D.C., where the association is headquartered, and access to the media and investment community. It also provides policy advice and issues management at both the federal and state level.

AFSA members provide consumers with many kinds of credit, including traditional installment loans, direct and indirect vehicle financing, mortgages, payment cards, and credit for non-vehicle retail customers. AFSA members do not provide payday or vehicle title loans.

AFSA members shape the industry’s direction and positions on a broad range of public policy issues that affect the consumer credit industry. No other trade group in America has more depth and influence on consumer finance issues.

Source: AFSA

National Dealer Association Responds to Senate Repossession Probe