What to Do if You Fall Behind on Auto Loan Payments

More automobile owners are falling behind on their payments, and a new report suggests that lenders have sometimes been overzealous in repossessing cars.

Even after borrowers have made payments as promised or received extensions on their auto loans, lenders have illegally repossessed cars, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau supervisory review of auto financing practices.

Borrowing to buy a car “is one of the largest sources of household debt for American families, and many deal with unnecessary costs and challenges paying for their car,” the bureau’s director, Rohit Chopra, said in a statement.

The bureau’s review also cited problems with lenders adding on the cost of extra products or services to car loans, like extended warranties or insurance, that borrowers didn’t agree to buy. The report didn’t name specific lenders or loan servicers — companies that send out bills and collect payments for lenders. But the bureau says its examiners have routinely found problems.

Mr. Chopra said the bureau “will take action against auto-finance companies that charge fees for nonexistent services, or repossess cars after borrowers make payments.”

The American Financial Services Association, a trade group for consumer financing companies, said in an emailed statement that the consumer bureau “is quick to categorize errors as though they are malicious, intentional or profitable.”