$60k Settlement After Maryland Car Dealer Ran Credit Without Permission 24 Times

Whitney, LLP obtained a $60,000 settlement on behalf of a Maryland car buyer after a Maryland car dealer ran credit without permission 24 times and illegally repossessed the buyer’s vehicle. This case demonstrates how dealerships that violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and other Maryland laws can be held accountable for unauthorized credit inquiries and illegally pressuring buyers into signing new finance contracts.

The FCRA protects consumers against unauthorized credit inquiries and provides legal rights to fight back and recover compensation. If you need a lawyer for unauthorized credit inquiries by a Maryland car dealer of Maryland business, call Whitney LLP’s FCRA attorneys.  

Whether a car dealer ran your credit once, twice or over a dozen times without a permissible purpose or consent, consumers have legal rights and can fight back.  Whitney, LLP’s Maryland auto fraud lawyers have filed arbitrations and lawsuits and successfully resolved numerous claims against dozens of new and used car dealers in Maryland on a variety of legal issues, including unauthorized credit pulls, deception, forgery, illegal fees, illegal repossession, illegal financing, harassment and false imprisonment.  As discussed in our blog, Maryland car dealers cannot run customer credit without permission or a permissible purpose under the FCRA.

Call us now at 410 583 8000 or use our online Quick Contact Form for your Free Case Evaluation and to discuss your potential case.

Watch our videos about some of the cases and variety of legal issues our Maryland car dealer fraud attorneys handle on our YouTube Channel.

Click here to read about a $290,000 verdict against Carzlane, Inc. and Ron’s Automotive involving allegations of a price increase and selling a vehicle without a working airbag system.

We also bring Truth in Lending Act claims against many car dealers for misrepresentation in financing.

Buyer’s Experience: Before The Maryland Car Dealer Ran Credit Without Permission

In July 2025, our client purchased a 2025 Jeep Compass from a Maryland new car dealership and traded in her Nissan Sentra.  She was told at the time that financing had been approved, although that turned out to be false.

In August 2025, she learned from the lender that the loan had not been approved after calling the lender.  She called the dealership several times to address this but was unable to speak with anyone about it.  She then drove to the dealership and requested a copy of all of her documents.  While there, a female employee told her she needed to sign a new contract, which she declined to do.  After she left, she received a phone call that evening from a manager regarding financing.  He told her that she needed to sign a new contract or bring back the Jeep and take the Nissan back. 

Spot Delivery Violation And Illegal Demand For Mileage Costs

When she said she wanted to return the Jeep and get the Nissan back, she was told she would have to pay for the mileage she had incurred on the Jeep.  She was unable to pay for the mileage expense but did not want to sign a new contract, and did not agree to either option presented to her.  Our Client did not know that the dealer’s demand for her to pay for mileage when returning the new car, due to financing not be approved, was illegal and in violation of Maryland’s Spot Delivery law.

Whitney, LLP’s Spot Delivery attorneys have extensive experience successfully resolving spot delivery cases against dealers that try to force customers to pay illegal fees, try to illegally keep customers’ down payments, and try to illegally get customers to sign new contracts when the initial financing is not approved by a third party lender.

Discovery of 24 Unauthorized Hard Credit Inquiries

After the sale, the Maryland car dealer ran credit without permission with multiple lenders including Capital One, Ally Financial, Santander, Global Lending Services, and Stellantis, causing credit damage and emotional distress.  It is important to understand when analyzing unauthorized credit inquiries that all three credit reports should be pulled because not all credit inquiries are reported on every report. 

These are a list of all of the unauthorized credit inquiries;

The dealership’s conduct not only violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which prohibits credit inquiries without a permissible purpose, but also Maryland’s consumer protection laws that safeguard buyers from unauthorized financing actions and false statements.  An internet search for “car dealer ran my credit without permission” returns numerous stories of unauthorized credit pulls and dealer misbehavior.

$60,000 Settlement for Unauthorized Credit Inquiries

Through Whitney, LLP’s investigation, it was determined that the dealership’s repeated inquiries constituted willful disregard of the FCRA’s permissible purpose requirement.  24 unauthorized hard inquiries across Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion over a two-month time period is outrageous, and showed the dealer’s contempt for our client’s legal rights. Each of these inquiries was made without her written consent or a valid financing application.

As part of the settlement, and because our Client wanted to keep the new Jeep, financing was arranged with the third party lender according to more favorable terms.  A $60,000 settlement was reached that took into account our Client’s desire to resolve the case quickly and without the need for arbitration or litigation, both of which can take months, if not over a year sometimes, to resolve.  As part of the settlement, the dealer agreed to cooperate with the removal process of the unauthorized hard inquiries from her credit history. Of course, all cases are different, and past results are not a guarantee of future results.

Some Maryland car dealers routinely violate their customers’ legal rights and run their credit without permission in order to try to force a sale to go through.  This is a violation of legal rights, and fortunately, Maryland law and federal law provide strong protections for consumers whose credit is run without permission.  Dealers that manipulate the financing process in violation of state and federal consumer protection statutes can face harsh legal consequences when an experienced auto fraud attorney and FCRA attorney undertakes representation to hold the dealer accountable.

This case outcome underscores that when a Maryland car dealer ran credit without permission, consumers have powerful remedies under both federal and state law.

Consumer Rights When a Car Dealer Ran Credit Without Permission

If a Maryland car dealer ran credit without permission, you may have a claim under the FCRA. Consumers may be able to recover for:

• Unauthorized credit pulls and credit score damage
• Financial loss
• Statutory damages of $100-$1,000 per violation
• Punitive damages
• Attorney’s fees

Whitney, LLP’s Maryland FCRA lawyers represent car buyers who were misled by dealerships and suffered damage to their credit due to unauthorized credit inquiries and other deceptive dealer practices.

As part of settlement in some of our FCRA cases, we assist our clients in disputing the hard inquiries and seeking to have them removed.  Removal of the unauthorized hard inquiries can sometimes quickly increase a credit score that had dropped due to numerous hard inquiries.

Daniel W. Whitney, Jr. and Daniel W. Whitney of Whitney, LLP

Maryland FCRA Lawyers for Unauthorized Credit Pulls – Whitney, LLP

If a Maryland car dealer ran credit without permission, Whitney, LLP’s FCRA attorneys may be able to help. Our attorneys represent consumers across Maryland in claims involving dealer fraud, credit misuse, debt collection and financing deception.

Annapolis, Baltimore, Salisbury, Germantown, Laurel, Silver Spring, Waldorf, Glen Burnie, Frederick and Ellicott City are just some of the areas where we represent clients taken advantage of by a car dealer.

Call us now at 410 583 8000 or use our online Quick Contact Form for your Free Case Evaluation and to discuss your potential case.