Regulators Cast Wider Net for Deceptive Auto Finance Pricing, Advertising

Brooke Conkle and Chris Capurso, attorneys in Troutman Pepper Locke’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group and co-hosts of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast, were quoted in the October 21, 2026, Auto Finance News article, “Regulators Cast Wider Net for Deceptive Auto Finance Pricing, Advertising.”

• The case should prompt auto lenders to review their vendor practices and agreements, Brooke Conkle, partner at law firm Troutman Pepper Locke, told Auto Finance News.
• “There are a lot of folks involved in the chain and … folks you do business with can increase your exposure,” she said. “If there is something going on in the advertising space when the consumer clicks on a car on the webpage, potentially that liability can flow up to the auto finance company.
• “It’s a tough ticket to audit and review everybody in the process, but that’s what regulators are doing.”
• …
• Regulators are cracking down on pricing transparency and reviewing all players in the process, including advertisers, Chris Capurso, counsel at law firm Troutman Pepper Locke, told AFN.
• “To have a case squarely against the third party advertiser for their part in the advertising cycle … was a little surprising,” he said.
• …
• “Not just the dealers, not just the finance companies, but every layer of the consumer transaction is being reviewed,” Troutman Pepper Locke’s Conkle said.
• …
• State attorneys general communicate with each other, federal regulators and plaintiff lawyers because enforcement themes cross regions, Conkle added.
• At the same time, some states are outsourcing case work to plaintiff lawyers, which can open the door for those lawyers to pursue similar issues, she said.
• “That clear and conspicuous advertising claim … we’re going to see that theme in all of the private litigation,” Conkle said.
• While plaintiff’s lawyers are sometimes barred from using information learned in a case for a state attorney general to tee up private litigation, “you can’t unring the bell,” she added.
• “These plaintiff’s lawyers are learning about the industry, about how things work, about the causes of action,” Conkle said. “They’re going to exploit that knowledge and use it as best they can for subsequent litigation.”