Obtained judgment for an auto finance company on claims that it conspired with a car dealership to violate the Truth in Lending Act.

The plaintiff contended that the auto finance company charged the dealership a “fee” as a condition of financing the vehicle purchase. This purported “fee” in turn was allegedly charged to the consumer through raising the price of the vehicle from its advertised price. The plaintiff contended that this “fee” was actually a hidden finance charge required to be disclosed under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and filed suit against both the dealership and auto finance company for failing to disclose the fee. 

After voluminous discovery in arbitration, we moved for summary disposition and the same was granted by the arbitrator, finding that the auto finance company had no involvement in the pricing of the vehicle, and could not have conspired with the dealership to raise the vehicle’s price in violation of TILA as a result.