U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Guaranteed Auto Sales (D. Md.)
On July 2, 2020, the Court entered a consent order to resolve the United States’ allegations in United States v. Guaranteed Auto Sales (D. Md.), against a used car dealership, its owner Kelly Ann West, and its manager Robert Chesgreen. The complaint, filed on September 30, 2019, alleges that defendants violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by offering different terms of credit based on race to customers seeking to purchase and finance used cars in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The consent order requires defendants to implement a number of specific practices to ensure that loan terms are offered to customers on a nondiscriminatory basis, including developing written policies to govern financing decisions, posting and distributing nondiscrimination notices to potential purchasers, attending training on the requirements of the Equal Opportunity Act, and engaging in ongoing record keeping and reporting to the United States. The lawsuit is based on the results of testing conducted by the department’s Fair Housing Testing Program, in which individuals pose as prospective car buyers to gather information about possible discriminatory practices. The complaint alleges that defendants engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by offering less favorable auto loan terms to African American testers than white testers, including by telling African American testers that they needed larger down payments than white testers for the same used cars, and telling African American testers that they were required to fund their down payments in one lump sum, while they gave white testers an option of paying in two installments.
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