---
title: "Lobel Financial Review: Payments, Insurance Rules and Its Record"
description: "Lobel Financial: how to pay (no autopay, an unpriced convenience fee), its $1,000-deductible insurance rule, its LDW and the $1,345,224 CFPB order of 2020."
url: "https://baronauto1.com/financing/lobel-financial-review/"
type: "article"
published: "2026-10-16"
modified: "2026-10-16"
site: "Baron Auto"
disclaimer: "This site is under new ownership and is not affiliated with Baron Auto Emporium dealership."
---

# Lobel Financial Review: Payments, Insurance Rules and Its Record

> Lobel Financial: how to pay (no autopay, an unpriced convenience fee), its $1,000-deductible insurance rule, its LDW and the $1,345,224 CFPB order of 2020.

*Car Loans & Credit · 22 min read · 4,864 words*

## The short version

- Lobel Financial Corporation is an Anaheim, California company that buys car-loan contracts from dealers. Its About Us page says it was founded in 1977; the CFPB’s 2020 order calls its business “subprime auto loans.” Its footprint map labels 19 states.
- You can pay by mail, online, by text, by phone, through a mobile wallet, MoneyGram (receive code 4042) or Western Union (city code LOBEL, state CA). For online, text and phone payments Lobel says “A convenience fee will apply, except where precluded by law” but prints no amount; it refuses credit cards and offers no automatic recurring payments.
- Lobel wants full coverage with comprehensive and collision deductibles of $1,000 or less and itself named as lienholder or loss payee. Otherwise it adds its Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), which the CFPB says “is not itself insurance” and cost about $70 a month on average.
- In 2020 the CFPB ordered Lobel to pay $1,345,224 in redress and a $100,000 penalty after finding it billed LDW to at least 2,919 borrowers more than 10 days late without giving them cover. Lobel neither admitted nor denied the findings; the order has since expired.
- Eligible accounts can defer one payment, with interest still accruing, and change the due date once per contract. Payoffs are quoted by phone; the title or lien release is mailed after about 15 business days.
- The CFPB database holds 946 complaints under Lobel’s name, received from 21 September 2012 to 16 October 2026; 41.3% are filed as credit reporting.

Lobel Financial is an Anaheim, California finance company that buys car contracts from dealers and collects the payments; if you bought a car and now get statements from Lobel, the dealer assigned your contract to it. On 17 October 2026 we read Lobel’s [Customers page and FAQ](https://www.lobelfinancial.com/customers), its payment, About Us, dealer, footprint, contact and Order GPS pages, its three privacy documents and its complaint site; the bond filings of its securitization depositor on SEC EDGAR, from 2023 to April 2026; the CFPB’s 2020 consent order and stipulation; and its CFPB complaint counts. We entered no login, payment or form, and this site has no commercial relationship with Lobel or any lender.

**Figure: What Lobel’s own pages, and the CFPB’s 2020 order, say happens when you…**

A two-column table of eight situations and what Lobel Financial's Customers and Make a Payment pages, and the CFPB's 2020 consent order, say about each: a deductible over $1,000 or lapsed full coverage brings Lobel's Loss Damage Waiver at about $70 a month on average; LDW can be suspended at 10 days late, and the order found at least 2,919 people billed without cover; there is no autopay and the portal takes same-day payments only; online, text and phone payments carry an unpriced convenience fee and credit cards are refused; payments before 4:30 pm Pacific online or 4:00 pm by phone post the same day; one-payment deferments accrue interest; proof of insurance takes 3-4 business days; and the title or lien release is mailed about 15 business days after payoff.

Read from Lobel Financial’s Customers and Make a Payment pages on 17 October 2026, and from the CFPB’s consent order and release of 21 September 2020 (2020-BCFP-0016). No login, payment or form was entered.

## What Lobel Financial is, and how your contract got there

Lobel’s home page says: “We are a consumer finance company specializing in purchasing and servicing automobile contracts.” About Us adds that it buys them “from Franchised and Independent automobile dealers, who have prime to non-prime consumers,” that “The company was founded in 1977” (49 years ago, by our arithmetic), and that it has “more than 500 talented automobile financing professionals.” It also says “Experian Automotive currently ranks Lobel Financial as one of the top 20 automobile finance companies in the United States”; we found no Experian document to check that, so treat it as Lobel’s claim.

The regulator is plainer. The CFPB’s 2020 consent order says “Lobel is a California corporation with its principal place of business in Anaheim, California,” which “indirectly originates and services subprime auto loans by taking assignment of retail-installment-sales contracts that automobile dealers make with borrowers.” About Us instead calls Lobel “a full spectrum lender providing auto financing for all tiers of borrowers.”

So most Lobel borrowers never applied to Lobel. The dealer wrote the contract and sent the deal out; Lobel’s dealer page offers “instant loan approvals for borrowers of all tiers” through “Dealertrack, RouteOne, or our exclusive DealWRITER platform.” Once Lobel buys the contract, its FAQ says your “Welcome Letter” arrives “by mail shortly after you purchase the vehicle,” with your account number. The contract the dealer wrote still sets your rate, term, late fee and any arbitration clause; Lobel publishes no sample contract. Our guides to [dealer fees](https://baronauto1.com/financing/what-are-dealer-fees/) and [the credit score you need to buy a car](https://baronauto1.com/financing/credit-score-to-buy-a-car/) cover that end of the deal.

Lobel’s [footprint page](https://www.lobelfinancial.com/our-footprint) says “We do business in all of the highlighted states in blue” and shows a map, not a list. Reading the labels on the blue states, we count 19: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. The map shows only the 48 contiguous states, and small unlabelled states such as Delaware are not counted.

## How to pay Lobel, and what it says each way costs

The [Make a Payment page](https://www.lobelfinancial.com/make-a-payment) lists seven routes. Online, text and phone payments all carry the same line: “A convenience fee will apply, except where precluded by law. Please be advised, we do not accept credit cards.” No page we read says how much the fee is. Mail and the mobile wallet are the only routes with no fee wording at all.

**Ways to pay Lobel Financial, as its Make a Payment page and FAQ print them, read 17 October 2026**

| Method | What Lobel says | Same-day cutoff it prints | Cost wording |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| U.S. Mail | Check, money order or cashier’s check with the statement coupon; “Do not send cash.” | None printed | None mentioned |
| Online | Register first; bank account or a Visa or MasterCard debit card | 4:30 pm PST; later or on holidays, the next day | “A convenience fee will apply”; FAQ: “A processing fee may apply” |
| Text / SMS (Text2Pay) | Enroll through an online account; bank account or debit card | 4:30 pm PST | “A convenience fee will apply” |
| Phone | Bank account or a Visa, Discover or MasterCard debit card | 4:00 pm PST, Monday to Friday | “A convenience fee will apply”; FAQ: “A processing fee may apply” |
| Mobile wallet | A Google Pay or Apple Wallet pass; “You don’t even have to log in to pay” | None printed | None printed |
| MoneyGram | Cash or PIN debit at about 35,000 agent locations, or online; Receive Code 4042 | 3:30 pm PST, Monday to Friday | “MoneyGram charges a fee for this service” |
| Western Union | Quick Collect or Bill Pay; City Code LOBEL, State Code CA | 3:00 pm PST, Monday to Friday | “Western Union charges a fee for this service” |

Two lines on that page pull against each other. Lobel says “we do not accept credit cards,” yet tells borrowers they can pay “by MoneyGram online using a credit card (or debit card with Visa / MasterCard logo)” with its receive code: Lobel takes no credit card, MoneyGram does, for its own fee. And the FAQ says a fee “may apply” where the payment page says it “will apply,” with no figure in either. Ask the amount before paying by phone, or mail a check early; statements “are mailed approximately 15 days before your due date.”

The FAQ adds that phone payments made “over the weekend or on a holiday, will be credited to your account the next business day.” Customer service is open Monday to Friday 6am to 6pm and Saturday 6am to 12pm, Pacific time; the number is on Lobel’s Customers and Contact Us pages (this page prints no phone numbers).

## Login, statements, and why there is no autopay

The Register My Account and Access My Account buttons, and the address lobelfinancial.us, lead to a payment portal on a separate web address; we did not open it. Lobel’s FAQ describes its limits:

- **No automatic payments.** “At this time, Lobel Financial does not offer automatic recurring payments.”
- **Same-day only.** The portal “only allows a same day payment”; for a later date, call “to discuss payment arrangements or other options available to you.”
- **A partial history.** “Your online account will only display the last 16 payments made online,” not mailed, phone, branch, Western Union or MoneyGram payments. Keep your own receipts.
- **Your profile is not your account record.** Address or email changes made online “are to manage your online profile only”; to change where statements go, call.

Every other dealer-contract lender in the table below prints some form of automatic payment. The table copies each lender’s own words from our existing pages, with the date we read them; it compares printed terms only.

**Automatic payments and due-date changes in each lender’s own words, from this site’s lender pages**

| Lender (read on) | Automatic payments | Changing the due date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lobel Financial (17 October 2026) | “does not offer automatic recurring payments” | “once per the term of the contract,” for qualified accounts |
| [Westlake Financial](https://baronauto1.com/financing/westlake-financial-review/) (6 October 2026) | “Recurring Payments (Free of Charge)” | Not in our Westlake record |
| [Exeter Finance](https://baronauto1.com/financing/exeter-finance-review/) (6 October 2026) | “Free recurring payments (ACH)” | “if your account qualifies” |
| [United Auto Credit](https://baronauto1.com/financing/united-auto-credit-review/) (10 October 2026) | “Set up automatic payments,” bi-weekly or monthly | “once during the life of your contract” |
| [First Investors](https://baronauto1.com/financing/first-investors-review/) (10 October 2026) | Auto debit; set-up “normally takes 20 days” | “up to 20 days from your original due date” |
| [Credit Acceptance](https://baronauto1.com/financing/credit-acceptance-review/) (6 October 2026) | “AutoPay” listed among “No-fee payment options” | The due date is “set by the dealer” |

Without autopay, every Lobel payment is manual, and Lobel prints no grace period or late fee on any page we read; both come from your contract. Set a reminder a few days before the due date.

## Insurance rules and Lobel’s Loss Damage Waiver

This is the FAQ answer that costs money if missed. “In order to remove or prevent LDW from being added to your account, your policy must meet the following requirements: Full coverage insurance with comprehensive and collision deductibles that are $1,000.00 or less. Lobel Financial must be listed as the lienholder or loss payee.” A liability-only policy, a higher deductible or a policy that omits Lobel fails that test.

The proof must show “The VIN,” “Lobel Financial listed as the lienholder or loss payee,” the “Comprehensive and Collision deductibles” and the “Effective and expiration date of the policy.” By email, Lobel asks for “Client Id 1391” in the subject line, and suggests a PDF over a photo because “pictures may be distorted and not legible.” “Insurance received 2:00pm Pacific time or later will be handled the next business day. Once you send proof of insurance, it will take 3-4 business days to process and update your account.” If you are still charged after sending proof that meets the rules, the FAQ says it is possible the proof “was not legible or was missing required information.”

### What the Loss Damage Waiver is

Lobel’s pages never say what LDW costs or how it works. The CFPB’s [2020 release](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/archive/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-settles-auto-lender-unfair-loss-damage-waiver-practices/) does: “When a borrower has insufficient insurance, rather than force-placing collateral-protection insurance, Lobel places the LDW product, which is not itself insurance, on borrower accounts and charges a monthly premium of approximately $70 for the LDW coverage.” It also says “Lobel’s LDW agreement, which all Lobel borrowers must sign,” lets Lobel add the charge whenever the required insurance is not kept. At the $70 average, a year of LDW is $840 by our arithmetic; that is the 2020 average, not a price Lobel prints today.

According to the order, “in the event of a repair, Lobel will pay the cost of the repair. In the event of a ‘total vehicle loss,’ Lobel will cancel the borrower’s debt.” It deals only with the financed car, and “The LDW product is not an insurance product, though Lobel uses it as a substitute for collateral-protection insurance.” Even a covered total loss leaves bills: the agreement, as the order quotes it, makes the borrower pay “the first $500 in damages per loss occurrence; all past-due payments; interest in arrears through the date of loss; all past-due LDW fees; all late charges; all legal or collection or repossession fees; impound fees; storage or towing costs exceeding $150 related to the damage occurrence,” plus lost-salvage fees. Lobel’s claims department handles “auto insurance claims, Loss Damage Waiver claims, or GAP claims”; our guides to [GAP insurance](https://baronauto1.com/financing/gap-insurance/) and [car insurance lapses](https://baronauto1.com/guides/car-insurance-lapse/) explain the difference.

**LDW can stop when you fall behind.** The CFPB order says “The LDW agreement allows Lobel to cancel the agreement and suspend coverage if the borrower becomes delinquent on his or her loan by 10 or more days.” If you rely on LDW instead of your own full-coverage policy, falling 10 days behind can leave the car uncovered. Your own policy, with Lobel named and deductibles of $1,000 or less, avoids both the charge and that risk.

## The 2020 CFPB order over Lobel’s Loss Damage Waiver

On September 21, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a [consent order](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_lobel-financial-corporation_consent-order_2020-09.pdf) against Lobel Financial Corporation in an administrative proceeding, docket 2020-BCFP-0016. In a stipulation dated September 8, 2020, Lobel consented “without admitting or denying any of the findings of fact or conclusions of law.” The [CFPB’s action page](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/actions/lobel-financial-corporation/) says “The Bureau found that Lobel engaged in unfair practices with respect to its Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) product.” What follows are the Bureau’s findings, not a court judgment.

The core finding is about lateness: “When consumers became 10 days delinquent on their loans, however, Lobel did not stop charging the monthly premium or otherwise indicate that it was canceling the LDW coverage. Instead, Lobel continued to charge these consumers, even though it no longer provided them with LDW coverage.” The release adds: “When these customers needed repairs or experienced total vehicle losses, Lobel denied their claims.”

**What the CFPB’s 2020 consent order found about Lobel’s LDW (findings Lobel neither admitted nor denied)**

| Finding | Consumers | Money the order names |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Paid LDW premiums while more than 10 days delinquent, but got no LDW coverage (since 2012) | At least 2,919 | Not separately stated |
| Had total-loss or repair claims denied “as though their coverage had been canceled” | At least 451 | Not separately stated |
| Had further claims improperly denied, with debts reported to the credit bureaus | At least 261 | Debts of at least $1,744,902.53 reported |
| Paid two fees the LDW agreement does not list: the car’s salvage value, and monthly payments while the debt cancellation took “on average, 3 months” | At least 607 | $352,895 in “excessive fees” |

By our arithmetic, the three groups the order defines as affected (2,919, 451 and 607) add up to 3,977 if no one is counted twice, matching the release’s “approximately 4,000 harmed consumers”; the unlisted fees averaged $581.38 per person who paid them. The order required Lobel to set aside $1,345,224 for redress within 10 days, pay “a $100,000 civil money penalty,” and ask the credit bureaus to correct the wrong information or “delete the tradeline.” It barred “charging consumers fees that are not authorized by its LDW contracts” and charging for LDW or “collateral protection insurance” without providing it. The period examined ran “from and including January 1, 2011 through and including July 31, 2019.”

The order says it “will terminate 5 years from the Effective Date,” which is 21 September 2025 by our arithmetic, and the CFPB’s action page lists its status as “Expired/Terminated/Dismissed.” Our searches found no other enforcement action naming Lobel. Its FAQ still does not print the LDW price or the 10-day rule; those sit in the LDW agreement.

**Figure: Annotated photograph**

Three numbered callouts over the photograph mark the key tag, the key blade and the door, each with one fact from Lobel Financial’s FAQ, payment page and the CFPB’s 2020 consent order.

Lobel Financial’s FAQ, payment page and the CFPB’s 2020 consent order, read on 16 October 2026: Deductible over $1,000, or Lobel not named lienholder? Its FAQ says LDW is added (callout 1); CFPB, 2020: Lobel billed LDW to borrowers 10+ days late but gave them no cover (callout 2); Proof of insurance takes 3-4 business days to post; after 2:00pm it waits a day (callout 3). The photograph is illustrative.

## Deferments, due dates, late payments and repossession

Lobel publishes no skip-a-payment program, but its FAQ describes one deferment: “Not all accounts will be eligible for a one payment deferment,” and eligibility is decided by phone. It moves a payment; it does not pause interest. “Interest will continue to accrue on your account when you defer a payment,” the next payment goes “first to any earned and unpaid interest,” and “This may result in you owing more interest over the term of your contract than originally disclosed on your contract.”

A due date can move only once: “Qualified accounts may be eligible to change the monthly due date once per the term of the contract.” Lobel says it “furnishes information to the credit report agencies,” that “Current or late payments or other defaults on your account may be reflected on your credit report,” and that disputes go in writing to its Anaheim mailing address; it does not say how late a payment must be before it is reported. Its text messages are part of collections: under its SMS terms, borrowers have authorized texts including “past-due notices, account servicing updates, deferment or reinstatement eligibility notifications,” which stop if you “text ‘STOP’ to the number you received messages from.”

### If the car is repossessed

Lobel’s pages say nothing about when or how it repossesses. Its California privacy policy says “With collateral recovery and disposition vendors we disclose Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Geolocation,” so repossession and resale vendors can receive your location data, and the LDW terms in the CFPB order list “all legal or collection or repossession fees” among what a borrower owes after a total loss.

For California contracts, state law sets the steps. This site’s [car repossession guide](https://baronauto1.com/financing/car-repossession/) read California Civil Code sections 2983.2 and 2983.3 on 7 September 2026: the holder must give “At least 15 days’ written notice of intent to dispose of a repossessed or surrendered motor vehicle” to everyone liable on the contract, stating your right to redeem and any conditional right to reinstate; you can ask in writing for a 10-day extension; the period is 20 days if the notice is mailed outside California; and reinstatement is limited to once in any 12-month period and twice during the contract. Other states differ; the guide covers them. Texas borrowers can turn to the regulator Lobel names: its privacy notice says Lobel “is licensed and examined under the laws of the State of Texas and by state law is subject to regulatory oversight by the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner.”

**Ask for the reinstatement amount in writing.** Lobel’s SMS terms mention “reinstatement eligibility notifications,” but no Lobel page says who may reinstate or for how much. After a repossession, keep every notice, check its dates against your state’s rules, and ask Lobel in writing for the redemption and reinstatement figures before the deadline. A balance left after the car is sold, the deficiency, can still be owed.

## GPS trackers and starter-interrupt devices: what Lobel discloses

“Order GPS” sits in the main menu of Lobel’s customer site, but it is not for borrowers. The link frames a PassTime page titled “Lobel Financial Corporation Device Purchase,” which advertises “Pinpoint GPS Tracking” and “Geofence Technology” and asks for a “Dealer Name”: an order page for dealers buying tracking devices. PassTime’s own site answered us with a bot check, so we could not read its terms and use nothing from that page beyond its title and fields.

No Lobel page says whether a GPS tracker or a starter-interrupt device is fitted to a borrower’s car, what it records, or when it can be used to find or disable the car, and Lobel publishes no device addendum. The nearest statements are in its California privacy policy, which lists “Precise geolocation” among the “Sensitive Personal Information” it collects and discloses “Geolocation” to collateral recovery vendors. If a device was installed, the paperwork should be in your deal file; ask the dealer for a copy. In the complaint data, 15 vehicle-loan complaints carry the sub-issue “Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle,” a label chosen by the person filing and not verified by the CFPB.

## Payoff, title release and the lien

“At this time, we do not process payoffs online.” The FAQ says to call customer service “to obtain an up to date payoff and instructions on how to send your payoff,” and gives a separate P.O. box marked “Payoff” for mailed payoffs. Ask what date the figure is good through and send the money before then. If you are refinancing, our guide to [refinancing a car loan](https://baronauto1.com/financing/refinance-a-car-loan/) covers the steps.

After payoff: “Depending on the state where your title is held, Lobel Financial will mail your title or, lien release if the title is held electronically, after approximately 15 business days.” In electronic-title states, “It can take up to 6 weeks for your state to complete the processing of your paper title,” and Lobel sends you to the DMV for its status. To confirm the lien is gone, see [how to check for a lien on a car](https://baronauto1.com/vehicle-history/how-to-check-for-a-lien-on-a-car/); for a lost paper title, see [replacing a lost title](https://baronauto1.com/vehicle-history/replace-lost-car-title/). In the CFPB data, 25 vehicle-loan complaints concern the end of the loan: 9 about paying it off and 9 about the title or other problems after payoff.

## Who owns Lobel, its licences, and its bond deals

No document we read says who owns Lobel Financial Corporation’s shares. It files no annual reports with the SEC, and its privacy notice says “Lobel Financial Corporation has no affiliates.” The clearest record of who runs it is the September 2020 CFPB stipulation, signed for the company by its president and approved by four directors, every one of them surnamed Lobel, the president among them. That shows a board drawn from one family; it is not a statement of who owns the shares.

Lobel’s pages print no licence number and no NMLS number; the only licence it states is the Texas one quoted above. California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation runs a public licensee search, but on 17 October 2026 its website answered with a bot check and the host of the search bars our crawler in its robots.txt, and NMLS Consumer Access showed a block page. So this page states no California licence; you can look Lobel up in the DFPI search yourself. Our searches found no state attorney-general or state-regulator action naming Lobel, though without a state-by-state docket search that is not proof there is none.

### Lobel’s securitizations on EDGAR

Some of Lobel’s contracts back bonds sold to investors. The filer, Lobel Automobile Receivables Funding, LLC, lists Lobel’s Anaheim street address; no document we read explains the relationship. Its 8 EDGAR filings, all Form ABS-15G, run from 24 April 2023 to 13 April 2026. Four attach an accountants’ pre-sale report by RSM US LLP, one per Lobel Automobile Receivables Trust; the notes were offered under a “confidential Preliminary Offering Memorandum,” so pool rates and losses are not public.

**Lobel Automobile Receivables Trust deals with an accountants’ report on EDGAR, read 17 October 2026**

| Trust | Data as of | Loans in the data file | Sample checked | Differences found |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2023-1 | March 31, 2023 | 13,226 | 150 | 2 (about 1.3%): borrower’s state differed from the contract |
| 2023-2 | September 8, 2023 | 13,984 | 150 | 3 (2%): borrower’s state differed from the contract |
| 2025-1 | February 4, 2025 | 16,905 | 150 | None |
| 2026-1 | February 28, 2026 | 13,453 | 150 | None |

RSM defines the loans as “automobile installment sales contracts secured by new or used automobiles.” Its 2026 report lists 14 fields it compared, among them the amount financed, the monthly payment and the APR, each against the signed contract, and it confirmed the title named Lobel as secured party, sometimes from an image on “the Company’s DealerTrack portal website.” Across the four reports it sampled 600 loans and listed 5 differences, 0.8% by our arithmetic, all about the borrower’s state. Lobel’s four Rule 15Ga-1 reports, covering 2023 to 2025, each say “The securitizer has no activity to report”: no demand to buy back a loan was reported. No 2024 trust is on file under this depositor.

## Lobel Financial complaints: what the CFPB database holds

The CFPB’s complaint database files every Lobel complaint under one name, “LOBEL FINANCIAL CORPORATION”; a company-name search for “lobel” returns no other. It holds 946 complaints received from 21 September 2012 to 16 October 2026, the end of our count. Complaints are consumers’ own accounts, which the CFPB does not verify, and counts grow with the number of borrowers, so they show what goes wrong more than how often. The CFPB has published no narratives since 30 September 2026; none are used here.

**CFPB complaints filed under Lobel Financial Corporation, by year received, read 17 October 2026**

| Year | Complaints | Of which vehicle loan or lease |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2012 to 2016 | 1, 13, 22, 30, 30 | Filed under the older “Consumer Loan” product |
| 2017 | 39 | 13 |
| 2018 | 38 | 28 |
| 2019 | 34 | 22 |
| 2020 | 36 | 13 |
| 2021 | 71 | 21 |
| 2022 | 51 | 19 |
| 2023 | 82 | 30 |
| 2024 | 111 | 34 |
| 2025 | 200 | 48 |
| 2026 (to 16 October) | 188 | 59 |
| Total | 946 | 287 |

Complaints rose 80.2% from 2024 to 2025 by our arithmetic, and 2026 to mid-October already equals 94% of 2025. The three credit-reporting product names together hold 391 complaints (41.3%), against 287 (30.3%) under “Vehicle loan or lease” and 168 under debt collection; another 86 older complaints sit under “Consumer Loan” with the sub-product “Vehicle loan,” counted separately.

Among the 287 vehicle-loan complaints, the largest issue is “Managing the loan or lease” (72, including 30 billing problems, 21 about fees and 13 about add-on products), then “Repossession” (64, or 22.3%; 23 about the balance left after the car was sold), “Getting a loan or lease” (37, of which 16 allege a fraudulent loan) and “Struggling to pay your loan” (37). In debt collection, 46 say the debt was not owed and 28 allege the wrong amount. Lobel closed 913 with an explanation, 31 with non-monetary relief and 1 with monetary relief, with 1 in progress; the CFPB marks 929 as answered on time.

Lobel also runs its own [complaint site](https://www.lobelfinancialcomplaints.com/), inviting borrowers to “Share feedback, voice concerns, or address complaints” through a form; we did not use it. BBB’s site blocked our request, so no BBB figure appears here. For other dealer-contract lenders read the same way, see [Westlake Financial](https://baronauto1.com/financing/westlake-financial-review/), [Credit Acceptance](https://baronauto1.com/financing/credit-acceptance-review/) or our guide to [buy here pay here](https://baronauto1.com/financing/buy-here-pay-here/) financing.

## Before you sign, or if you already pay Lobel

- **Find your account number.** It is on the Welcome Letter and each statement coupon; every payment route asks for it.
- **Insure the car Lobel’s way.** Full coverage, deductibles of $1,000 or less, Lobel named as lienholder or loss payee.
- **Send clean proof.** VIN, deductibles, policy dates and Lobel’s name; allow 3-4 business days, and send before 2:00pm Pacific.
- **Watch for LDW charges.** If one appears while your policy meets the rules, resend proof and keep a copy.
- **Ask the fee before paying online, by text or by phone.** Lobel prints no amount.
- **Set your own reminder.** There is no autopay, and the portal takes same-day payments only.
- **Keep payment records.** The portal shows only the last 16 online payments.
- **Use the one due-date change wisely.** It is allowed once per contract.
- **Ask about a deferment early.** One payment only, not every account qualifies, and interest keeps accruing.
- **Look for GPS or device paperwork in your deal file.** Lobel’s site discloses none.

## Common questions

### Is Lobel Financial a legitimate company?

Yes. It is a California corporation in Anaheim that buys and services dealer car contracts, says it was founded in 1977, and states that it is licensed in Texas. Its record includes the CFPB’s 2020 consent order over its Loss Damage Waiver, settled without admitting or denying the findings and now listed as expired.

### How do I make a Lobel Financial payment?

By mail with your statement coupon, online after registering, by text through Text2Pay, by phone, with a Google Pay or Apple Wallet pass, at MoneyGram with Receive Code 4042, or by Western Union with City Code LOBEL and State Code CA. Lobel says a convenience fee applies to online, text and phone payments except where the law bars it, and it takes no credit cards.

### Does Lobel Financial offer autopay?

No. Its FAQ says “At this time, Lobel Financial does not offer automatic recurring payments,” and the portal takes same-day payments only. For a later date, Lobel says to call customer service.

### What insurance does Lobel Financial require?

Full coverage with comprehensive and collision deductibles of $1,000 or less, with Lobel listed as lienholder or loss payee. If your proof does not show that, Lobel adds its Loss Damage Waiver.

### What is Lobel’s Loss Damage Waiver, and what does it cost?

The CFPB calls LDW a product “which is not itself insurance”; it pays covered repairs or cancels the debt after a total loss. The CFPB put the premium at about $70 a month on average in 2020. Cover can be suspended once you are 10 or more days late, and a total loss still leaves you owing the first $500 and other charges.

### How long does Lobel take to send the title after payoff?

Lobel says it mails the title, or the lien release if the title is electronic, after approximately 15 business days; in electronic-title states the DMV then issues the paper title, which can take up to 6 weeks.

## Sources and further reading

- [CFPB auto loan resources](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/auto-loans/)
- [CFPB consumer complaint database](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/)
- [FTC vehicle repossession](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/vehicle-repossession)
- [CFPB, Repossession in Auto Finance (January 2025)](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_report-repossession-in-auto-finance_2025-01.pdf)
- [CFPB: what is Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP)?](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-guaranteed-asset-protection-gap-insurance-en-797/)
- [UCC Article 9, part 6 — default (uniform text)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/9/article9)

Recall, complaint and safety-rating figures on this page were retrieved from the federal databases above on August 19, 2026. Federal data changes — re-check any VIN before you rely on it.

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Canonical source: https://baronauto1.com/financing/lobel-financial-review/