Santander Consumer is reporting your auto loan wrong?

Who Santander Consumer is and what it reports

Santander Consumer USA Inc. is a Dallas-based consumer finance company owned by Santander Holdings USA, part of Spain’s Banco Santander. The CFPB has described it as a leading originator and servicer of nonprime auto loans and leases. It finances new and used vehicles under brands including Santander and RoadLoans.

For years Santander Consumer also financed vehicles for FCA US (now Stellantis) dealers under the Chrysler Capital name, through a private-label agreement that, as amended in April 2022, ran through December 2025. If your contract or statement says Chrysler Capital, the lender behind it is Santander Consumer USA.

Every month Santander reports these loans to the credit bureaus: balance, payment history, status and key dates. Under the FCRA, that makes it a “furnisher.”

Santander Consumer and the credit bureaus: the regulatory record

On December 22, 2020, the CFPB announced a consent order against Santander Consumer USA for credit reporting violations tied to its auto loans. The CFPB found that from January 2016 through August 2019, Santander furnished information to the credit bureaus that it knew or should have known was inaccurate, including whether accounts were open or closed, and that it failed to provide the date of first delinquency on certain delinquent or charged-off accounts. The CFPB also found that Santander did not promptly correct information it determined was incomplete and lacked reasonable written policies on the accuracy and integrity of the data it furnished. Santander agreed to a $4.75 million civil money penalty and to correct the errors the CFPB identified.

Earlier, on May 19, 2020, a coalition of 34 state attorneys general announced a settlement with Santander worth more than $550 million in relief, including deficiency waivers and about $433 million in forgiveness of loans Santander still owned. The states alleged that Santander approved subprime auto loans it expected would default at high rates and failed to adequately monitor dealers.

These actions do not prove anything about your loan. But the errors the CFPB found, wrong open or closed status and missing delinquency dates, are the same errors to look for on your own report.

Errors that show up on Santander auto loans

• Wrong or missing date of first delinquency. That date sets the clock for how long a charge-off or collection may stay on your report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c). If it is wrong, the item may stay past the seven-year limit.
• Wrong open or closed status. A loan paid off or closed is still reported as open, or the reverse.
• Balances that are not owed. A balance or remaining payments reported after the loan was paid, settled, or the deficiency was waived.
• Repossession deficiencies. The deficiency reported after a sale does not match the sale proceeds and credits in your post-sale notice.
• Deferral and extension months. Payments moved under a written deferral or extension agreement reported as late.
• Payoffs that never posted. A dealer trade-in payoff or an insurance or GAP payoff after a total loss that is not reflected on the account.

How to dispute a Santander Consumer account

1. Gather your records. Contract, statements, payment confirmations, any deferral or extension agreement, payoff or settlement letters, and repossession and post-sale notices.
2. Pull all three reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. Look at the status, balance, date of first delinquency and payment grid for the Santander or Chrysler Capital tradeline.
3. Dispute with each bureau reporting the error. Use the Equifax, Experian and TransUnion dispute channels. State exactly what is wrong and attach proof.
4. You may also dispute directly with Santander through your online account or the contact information on your statement. Keep copies. A direct dispute alone does not give you a right to sue.
5. Track the deadlines. Bureaus generally have 30 days to reinvestigate (§ 1681i(a)(1)), and Santander must complete its investigation within the same period (§ 1681s-2(b)(2)).

Why the bureau dispute matters: consumers cannot sue a lender to enforce its general accuracy duties under § 1681s-2(a). The private claim arises under § 1681s-2(b), after a bureau notifies Santander of your dispute.

Your FCRA rights

• Furnisher investigation (§ 1681s-2(b)). After notice from a bureau, Santander must reasonably investigate, review what the bureau sends, report the results, and modify, delete or block information that is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Most negative information cannot be reported more than seven years, measured for charge-offs and collections from the date of first delinquency plus 180 days.
• Identity theft blocking (§ 1681c-2). With an identity theft report, bureaus generally must block a fraudulent auto loan within four business days. Santander has separate duties under § 1681s-2(a)(6), but no private claim arises from that provision.
• Bureau duties (§§ 1681e(b), 1681i). A bureau that keeps reporting the Santander error after your dispute may face its own claim.

What you may recover

For a negligent violation, you may recover actual damages, such as credit denials, higher interest and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and attorney’s fees and costs (§ 1681n).

Get a free case review before your deadline

An FCRA claim generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). If Santander Consumer or Chrysler Capital is reporting your auto loan wrong and a bureau dispute did not fix it, gather your loan papers, reports and results letters and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel, and works on contingency: no fee unless we win.

Questions about suing Santander Consumer USA

Can I sue Santander Consumer over my credit report?

Possibly. Santander Consumer USA is a furnisher of credit information. If you dispute a Santander or Chrysler Capital loan through Equifax, Experian or TransUnion and Santander fails to reasonably investigate and correct inaccurate data after the bureau notifies it, you may have a claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b).

My loan says Chrysler Capital. Who do I dispute with?

Chrysler Capital loans were made through Santander Consumer USA under a private-label agreement with FCA US (Stellantis). Dispute the tradeline with each credit bureau that shows it, using the name exactly as it appears on your report, and keep the results.

Santander waived my deficiency balance. Why does my report still show it owed?

It should not. If a deficiency was waived, settled or paid, reporting it as still owed may be inaccurate. Keep the waiver or settlement letter and dispute through each bureau so Santander's investigation duty under § 1681s-2(b) is triggered.

What does it cost to hire FCRA Attorneys?

Nothing up front. We handle FCRA cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win, and the FCRA shifts reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the company when the consumer prevails (15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n, 1681o).

Related reading

• Charged-Off Account Still Showing a Balance? When It's Accurate and When It's Not
• How to Dispute Credit Report Errors With Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
• How to Remove a Late Payment From Your Credit Report, and When You Can't
• Examples of FCRA Violations, Matched to the Section of the Law They Break

Sources

• CFPB press release: CFPB Settles with Santander Consumer USA Inc. for Credit Reporting Violations in Connection with its Auto Loans (December 22, 2020)
• California Attorney General press release: multistate settlement with Santander Consumer USA (May 19, 2020)
• Santander Consumer USA release: Chrysler Capital agreement amended and extended (April 27, 2022)
• Santander Consumer USA official site

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.