Alaskans with Credit Acceptance car loans may get debt cancelled under a $709.5 million settlement

Alaskans who took a car loan from Credit Acceptance Corporation may have the balance cancelled or cash coming under a $709.5 million settlement Alaska joined Thursday. The company will cancel $634 million in car-loan debt and pay $60 million in cash to borrowers. Those eligible for debt relief will be notified by the company, those eligible for cash by a claims administrator.

The relief covers loans scored below 56 at origination, with a monthly payment of at least 13% of income, made from Nov. 1, 2015 to Nov. 30, 2025. The $634 million in debt relief splits into two pools: $388 million written off for accounts already repossessed as of Dec. 1, 2025, and $246 million for a group whose vehicles were never repossessed and sold. Credit Acceptance must also stop reporting affected accounts to credit bureaus, ask them to delete the trade lines, the entries carrying a loan's history on a credit file, and release liens on titles it still holds.

The states allege the company scored each loan by the share it expected to collect and made low-scoring loans anyway, including ones where it predicted borrowers would not repay the principal. The settlement also resolves allegations that dealers packed vehicle service contracts and guaranteed asset protection products, which cover what is left owing after a car is totaled, into financed loans. "This settlement gets relief directly back to the folks who were harmed," Acting Attorney General Cori Mills said in a Department of Law release.

Alaska's own share of the money is about $106,650, drawn from $15.5 million the lender pays the participating attorneys general. Alaska has no say in how the money is divided. A Multistate Executive Committee of California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Arkansas, Minnesota and New York holds sole discretion over relief distribution, the settlement administrator and division of the $15.5 million. The consent judgment names Alaska once, in the Multistate Working Group roster.

Other states published residents' shares. Oregon, which collects $109,772, reported $548,431 in debt relief for 58 Oregonians and $96,142 in restitution for 67 more. Colorado reported $678,736 for nearly 500 consumers. Alaska's release gives no Alaska figure.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the New York Attorney General sued Credit Acceptance in January 2023, alleging the lender hid auto loan costs and set borrowers up to fail. The bureau withdrew as a plaintiff in April 2025, leaving the states. A Maryland subpoena of Aug. 11, 2020 expanded an earlier inquiry to 41 other states and the District of Columbia, including Alaska.

The company denies wrongdoing. "By entering this agreement Respondent makes no admission of wrongdoing or liability," the consent order states. The settlement takes effect Nov. 2, 2026, with most monetary relief due within 90 days.