Bankrate: How predatory but legal auto loans are systematically taking advantage of people with subprime credit

March 4, 2026 — Featured News

Appearing in Bankrate on March 4, 2026, Andrew Pentis talks to John Van Alst, senior attorney at NCLC and director of our Working Cars for Working Families project, for a story about a predatory loan that can ensnare you in a matter of hours and lead to crushing debt — and perhaps wrecked credit — that can span years, and how it’s all perfectly legal.

Picture yourself back at the dealership. You’ve picked out your car, haggled over the price and, sure, successfully avoided unnecessary add-ons offered by the salesperson. Then starts the “cascade” of paperwork, says Van Alst. After those initial fits and starts, you’re suddenly being asked to read over everything quickly, sign here, initial there. Your new loan agreement is just one paper, digital or otherwise, mixed into the stack.

Yes, the Truth in Lending Act requires that, when you’re obtaining credit, you should be given the disclosures for its cost, so that you can shop around. But “you never get any of that until the end, and so you’re already kind of locked in,” Van Alst says. “And so, it really is just such an opaque and difficult-to-manage transaction that we just see horrible abuses built into this, time and time again.”