Nissan Agrees To $3M Military Members’ Repossessed Vehicles Settlement

Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, the financing company for Nissan, will pay $3 million to settle claims made by the U.S. Department of Justice who say the company violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by wrongfully repossessing military members’ vehicles.

The government asserted that Nissan made a practice of repossessing 113 vehicles of SCRA-protected service members without court orders.

This repossession class action lawsuit is the result of an investigation that the Department of Justice launched against Nissan in 2016.

The government also alleges that Nissan refused to refund upfront costs to qualifying service members who ended their leases early when they received military orders to deploy or change locations. Allegedly, these costs included lease amounts paid in advance.

Class Members include all service members who terminated their Nissan leases between Jan. 1, 2008 through the effective date of the settlement agreement.

Nissan has not admitted liability in the Nissan repossession class action lawsuit, but as agreed to a settlement deal nonetheless, saying that the settlement is in the best interest of all parties.

Per the terms of the Nissan class action settlement, Nissan has agreed to review its policies and procedures around vehicle repossession regarding the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Nissan has also agreed to confirm that its policies are compliant with the law. This allegedly includes ceasing to repossess protected vehicles, and permitting qualifying service members to terminate their leases early.

Further, Nissan has agreed to present a copy of its changed polices to counsel of the United States for approval or changes, and has agreed to implement the changes in a timely manner.

The company will also offer compliance training to employees who provide customers service to lessees and borrowers, those who repossess motor vehicles, or those who are involved in leasing and the terminations of leases. These employees will be trained in how to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, under the terms of the Nissan repossession settlement agreement.

According to the Nissan class action settlement agreement, the company will put $2,937,971 into an interest-bearing escrow account “for the purpose of providing compensation for the alleged violations.” Nissan has agreed to make a payment to each person identified has having suffered an alleged violation of the SCRA.

Class Members will each receive a letter from Nissan about their qualifications for benefits under the Nissan class action settlement.

The proposed Nissan settlement deal dictates that Class Members who receive benefits will waive their rights to pursue independent litigation against Nissan over the issue.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The U.S. government is represented by Sarah K. Bogni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Nissan Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Repossession Class Action Lawsuit is U.S. v. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., Case No. 3:19-cv-00658, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

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