Nissan Unit Seeks to Settle Class-Action Suit
From Associated Press
Nissan Motor Co.’s financing arm has agreed to stop marking up loan rates offered to qualified minority buyers under a proposed settlement of a class-action federal discrimination lawsuit.
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. also agreed to tell car buyers their interest rate may be negotiable.
The agreement, filed Tuesday, seeks to settle a 1998 lawsuit by 10 black and Latino car buyers from Tennessee and Florida who said the unit charged them higher interest rates on car loans than whites with similar credit ratings. Under the deal, the finance arm would pay $5,000 to $20,000 to each plaintiff named in the suit plus $1 million to America Saves, a Washington-based consumer group. Lawyers said the suit involved about 125,000 plaintiffs.
