New York borrowers who, according to state regulators, were charged or billed undisclosed extension fees on Santander Consumer USA auto loans between February 2016 and May 2017 are owed refunds under a consent order the New York Department of Financial Services announced in June 2026. Mail from Rust Consulting bearing the name “NY Department of Financial Services v Santander” has reached New York borrowers, and there is no claim form to file.
What Is the “NY Department of Financial Services v Santander” Mail?
Envelopes from Rust Consulting, Inc., a settlement administration firm, have reached New York borrowers printed with the case name “NY Department of Financial Services v Santander” and marked “Important Legal Materials.” The case line on the envelope is cut off, ending in “Santander Adminis.”The name matches a real enforcement action. On June 3, 2026, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced a consent order with Santander Consumer USA Inc. over auto-loan extension fees. Under the order, Santander pays a $400,000 civil penalty to the state and refunds fees to New York borrowers; DFS says more than $275,000 will go back to eligible borrowers. The order allows Santander to hand the refund payments to a settlement administrator, but it does not name one, so the order alone does not identify Rust as the administrator for this program.
This is a regulatory settlement, not a class action. There is no court case, no certified class and no claim form. Eligibility comes from a list of borrowers Santander gave DFS, which the order approves.
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What DFS Found About Santander’s Extension Fees
Santander Consumer USA lets auto-loan borrowers ask for more time to make a payment. Borrowers who did so received an Extension Agreement with a provision covering extension fees. According to the consent order, for roughly 15 months the Extension Agreement disclosed a single $25 extension fee, while Santander charged borrowers $25 per month.DFS found that New York borrowers paid approximately $237,000 in undisclosed extension fees, and that Santander assessed, but did not collect, approximately $86,000 more from other New York borrowers. The Department concluded that charging fees in contradiction of the Extension Agreements’ own language was false, misleading and deceptive, in violation of New York Banking Law § 350(a), which bars licensed lenders from false, misleading or deceptive statements about loan rates, terms or conditions.
The issue surfaced in a DFS consumer compliance and fair lending examination of Santander’s New York indirect auto lending from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018, followed by an enforcement investigation. Santander had voluntarily stopped charging the fees in May 2017, before the examination. The Department acknowledged Santander’s cooperation and credited its efforts to identify and voluntarily remediate the problem.
The order presents these points as the Department’s findings. Santander agreed to resolve the matter on the order’s terms without further proceedings; the order contains no clause in which Santander admits or denies the findings.
Who Gets a Refund and How Much
The order calls the covered group “Eligible Impacted Borrowers”: New York State borrowers who were charged and/or assessed an undisclosed extension fee by Santander between February 19, 2016 and May 10, 2017, and whose fees were not previously waived. DFS’s press release puts it more broadly, saying consumers may be eligible if they had an auto loan with Santander before 2018.Restitution takes one of two forms. Borrowers who paid the undisclosed fees receive a check refunding them, plus interest calculated using the Consumer Price Index for a period Santander and DFS agreed on. Borrowers who were billed the fees but never paid them, or paid only part, receive a waiver; the order gave Santander 30 days from its effective date to issue those waivers.
Santander has already given DFS a list of every eligible borrower with the amount owed to each, and the consent order reflects the Department’s approval of that list. Individual amounts are not published; each check reflects the undisclosed fees that borrower paid, plus interest.
How the Order Says the Checks Are Mailed
The consent order lets Santander use a settlement administrator under an engagement letter and instructions DFS approves, with Santander paying the administrator’s costs. If it does, Santander must deposit the refund money irrevocably into an account the administrator controls within 15 days of DFS approving the borrower list.For eligible borrowers who no longer have an active Santander loan, the order requires a search for a current address, using the last address on file and a service such as Lexis, and a check mailed within three months of the order’s effective date. The parties signed the order June 1 and 2, 2026, and the Acting Superintendent approved it June 3, which put that mailing deadline in early September 2026.
A check that comes back or is not deposited within 120 days of mailing triggers another address search, and if a newer address turns up, the check is re-sent or reissued; reissued checks are valid for 120 days from mailing. A check that is still not cashed by its void date is handled under New York’s Abandoned Property Law, the state law that governs unclaimed funds. One year after the effective date, Santander must report to DFS how many checks were mailed, how many went undeposited past 120 days and how many were re-mailed.
What the Order Requires the Mailing to Say
Paragraph 21 of the consent order requires every refund to come with a paper or electronic statement that says, in substance, three things: that Santander is paying restitution as a result of its settlement with DFS over undisclosed extension fees; that, unless the loan has been paid off, the borrower should continue making loan payments as before; and that more information about the settlement is available from DFS, including at its website, dfs.ny.gov.Those three points are the order’s own description of a genuine restitution mailing. The consent order and the June 3, 2026 press release are both posted on the DFS website, and the press release lists a Santander toll-free line for restitution questions. Nothing in the order asks borrowers to submit a form, pay a fee or provide bank account information: refunds go out as mailed checks, and unpaid fees are waived.
Rust Consulting administers other refund programs as well, including the Federal Trade Commission’s Avast refunds. General signs of a legitimate settlement notice are covered in how to check whether a settlement email or check is real.
Questions
Is the Rust Consulting envelope about Santander and the NY Department of Financial Services real?
The case name on the envelope matches a real enforcement action: a consent order the New York State Department of Financial Services signed with Santander Consumer USA Inc. in June 2026. Rust Consulting is a settlement administration firm. The order allows Santander to use a settlement administrator but does not name one, so the order itself does not confirm Rust’s role. The order does require every refund to arrive with a statement that the money comes from the settlement with the Department, that borrowers with open loans should keep paying as before, and that more information is available from the Department, including at dfs.ny.gov.
Who is eligible for the Santander extension fee refund?
The consent order covers New York State borrowers who were charged or assessed an undisclosed extension fee by Santander Consumer USA between February 19, 2016 and May 10, 2017, and whose fees were not already waived. Santander gave the Department a list of those borrowers and the amount owed to each, and the order reflects the Department’s approval of that list.
How much is each Santander extension fee refund?
Individual amounts are not published. Under the consent order, each refund check returns the undisclosed extension fees that borrower paid, plus interest calculated using the Consumer Price Index. DFS says Santander will return more than $275,000 in total. Borrowers who were billed the fee but never paid it receive a waiver instead of a check.
Is there a claim form or deadline for the Santander DFS settlement?
There is no claim form. Eligibility comes from the borrower list Santander gave the Department. The order called for checks to be mailed to eligible borrowers without an active Santander loan within three months of its June 2026 effective date. A check that is returned or not deposited within 120 days triggers an address search and a reissue, and an uncashed check after its void date is handled under New York’s Abandoned Property Law.
Did Santander admit wrongdoing in the DFS consent order?
The consent order sets out the Department’s findings, including that the extension fees violated New York Banking Law § 350(a), and Santander agreed to resolve the matter on the order’s terms. The order contains no clause in which Santander admits or denies those findings. The Department acknowledged Santander’s cooperation and credited its efforts to identify and voluntarily fix the problem.
Is the Santander extension fee settlement a class action?
It is not. The refunds come from a state regulator’s enforcement action, not a lawsuit, so there is no court, no certified class, no class counsel and no opt-out or objection process. The order states that nothing in it prevents any consumer from pursuing any right or remedy at law.
Sources
- New York State Department of Financial Services press release — $400,000 penalty and more than $275,000 in restitution (June 3, 2026)
- Consent Order, In the Matter of Santander Consumer USA Inc. — findings, eligibility, restitution and mailing terms (approved June 3, 2026)
- ABA Banking Journal — summary of the consent order (July 6, 2026)
- Auto Remarketing / SubPrime Auto Finance News — coverage of the settlement (June 5, 2026)
