Don Hankey

Last updated

Don Hankey
Born
Don Robert Hankey

(1943-06-13) June 13, 1943 (age 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of Southern California
Occupation(s)Founder, Hankey Group
SpouseMarried
Children4

Don Robert Hankey (born June 13, 1943) is an American billionaire [1] and founder of the Hankey Group, which makes most of its income from high interest car loans. He has been called "the repo man" and "king of the subprime car loan". [2]

Contents

Early life

Don Robert Hankey was born on June 13, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, [3] the son of a Los Angeles car dealer. He has a degree from University of Southern California. [4]

Career

Hankey took over his father's Ford dealership in 1972, and built the Hankey Group, with its main business being Westlake Financial Services, [5] which makes subprime car loans [4] [6] at high interest. The company was reported to repossess about 250 cars a day in 2015. [2]

In October 2015, Westlake Financial was ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide $44.1 million dollars in consumer relief for engaging in illegal debt collection practices. Westlake Financial and its affiliate Wilshire Consumer Credit deceived borrowers into thinking they were being called by repossession companies, other third parties, or even the borrowers’ own family and friends. The Bureau also found that the companies unlawfully disclosed information about borrowers’ debts to employers, family, and friends. The companies also failed to disclose the annual percentage rate on certain loans as required by law. In some cases, the companies changed the due dates or extended the terms of loans without borrowers’ permission, causing more interest to accrue, while telling consumers that the extensions would have a positive effect. These practices violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act. [7]

Don Hankey has donated to the Republican National Committee, such as his $33,400 donation in August 2016 while acting Chairman of NOWCOM, [8] and a $1,590 donation to the Republican Party of Wyoming PAC during the same month. [9] [10]

Hankey is also a real estate investor in Downtown Los Angeles. [11] He lent Nile Niami $82.5 million for construction of The One in 2018. [12]

In August 2022 Westlake Financial was found guilty of stealing $9,366,976.37 from elderly victims in a ponzi scheme orchestrated by then Westlake Investment Advisor, Raymond A. Erker. [13] In September 2022, Westlake Financial agreed to pay more than $225,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by failing to provide qualified servicemembers with interest rate benefits for the entire period required under the SCRA and by improperly delaying approval of interest rate benefit requests. [14]

As of April 2024 he was reported to have a net worth of US$7.4 billion. [4]

Hankey is the largest individual shareholder of Axos Financial, [15] the company that refinanced former U.S. president Donald Trump's mortgages on Trump Tower in New York City and on Trump National Doral in Miami in 2022. [16] He owns Knight Insurance Group and is chairman of Knight Specialty Insurance Company, which issued the $175 million bond Donald Trump posted in April 2024 to stay enforcement of a judgment for $464 million plus interest while he appeals it in a civil fraud case. [15] [17] [18] [2]

Personal life

Hankey is married with four children, and lives in Malibu, California. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Don Hankey Forbes Profile". Forbes. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Noah, Timothy (April 2, 2024). "Trump Has Hocked Himself to the Repo Man". The New Republic.
  3. ↑ "Don Robert Hankey". California Birth Index. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Don Hankey". Forbes. Retrieved April 3, 2024. Updated as required.
  5. ↑ "About Don Hankey, Chairman of the Board of Westlake Financial Services and other Hankey Group properties". Westlake Financial Services. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  6. ↑ Peterson-Withorn, Chase (November 24, 2015). "Subprime Supremo: Don Hankey Made A Fortune On High-Interest Car Loans -- Now He's Uber's Partner". Forbes. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  7. ↑ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (October 1, 2015). "CFPB Orders Indirect Auto Finance Company to Provide Consumers $44.1 Million in Relief for Illegal Debt Collection Tactics" (Press release). CFPB.
  8. ↑ NOWCOM. "Don Hankey, Founder/CEO of NOWCOM". Hankey Group. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  9. ↑ OpenSecrets.org. "Donor Lookup - Don Hankey". OpenSecrets. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  10. ↑ OpenSecrets.org. "Donor Lookup - Don Hankey". OpenSecrets. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  11. ↑ Vincent, Roger (January 19, 2014). "Downtown L.A.'s South Park catching a wave of new development". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Foreclosure looms for Nile Niami's infamous mega-mansion 'The One'". Los Angeles Times. March 9, 2021.
  13. ↑ U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio (August 2, 2022). "Former Westlake Investment Advisor Sentenced to Nearly 22 Years in Prison for Operating Ponzi Scheme" (Press release). U.S. Dept. of Justice.
  14. ↑ U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California (September 28, 2022). "Westlake Financial to Pay More Than $225,000 to Resolve Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Claims" (Press release). U.S. Dept. of Justice.
  15. 1 2 Everson, Zach (April 2, 2024). "Trump Posts $175 Million Bond Thanks To Billionaire Don Hankey". Forbes . Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  16. ↑ Everson, Zach (August 12, 2023). "CEO Of Trump's New Lender Sells $11 Million Of His Bank's Stock". Forbes . Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  17. ↑ Sisak, Michael R.; Peltz, Jennifer (April 2, 2024). "Donald Trump has posted a $175 million bond to avert asset seizure as he appeals NY fraud penalty". Associated Press . Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  18. ↑ Katersky, Aaron; Charalambous, Peter (April 2, 2024). "Trump secures $175 million bond in New York civil fraud case". ABC News . Retrieved April 2, 2024.
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