An SUV, a Loan and a Lawsuit

New York woman went to a car dealership and walked out with more than she bargained for

Washington, DC – May 8, 2015 – Olga Arroyo said she went to an auto dealership in the Bronx last year planning to cosign a car loan for her 39-year-old son.

But the 56-year-old Manhattan resident, who has good credit but monthly income of only $1,354 in Social Security benefits, said she unwittingly left with a $51,000 car loan in just her own name. How she got the loan, funded through J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s auto-financing arm, is the subject of a lawsuit filed this past week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit claims the bank and the dealership violated federal consumer-protection statutes and unlawfully deceived her into purchasing a car she didn’t want and couldn’t afford.