The FTC announced last Friday that it will no longer enforce policies against “disparate-impact or unfair discrimination claims. This will affect the agency’s once active enforcement against auto dealers’ discriminatory financing practices that cheat minority car buyers. In 2022, for example, the Commission alleged that Passport Auto, a Washington D.C.-area auto dealer, violated the FTC Act and the anti-discrimination law, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, claiming that the dealer charged Black and Latino consumers higher fees and financing costs. The FTC then entered into a final order with the dealer, which included a monetary judgment and a permanent injunction to stop the harmful practices. The agency has amended this and other final orders following this latest policy change.
