Finance & Insurance (F&I) Assistant

Description

Position Summary

The Finance & Insurance (“F&I”) Assistant is responsible for managing the financing and insurance process associated with dealership vehicle sales and leases. The F&I Assistance works with customers, lenders, lessors, and dealership personnel to obtain financing approvals, accurately prepare transaction documents, ensure timely funding, and maintain compliance with applicable federal and state laws and dealership policies.

The F&I Assistant is expected to balance dealership profitability with fair, transparent, and compliant treatment of customers. The position requires particular attention to accurate disclosures, protection of customer information, lender requirements, and complete deal documentation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The F&I Assistant’s responsibilities include:

• Meet with customers following vehicle selection and agreed sales terms to complete the financing, leasing, and F&I process.
• Review credit applications and supporting documentation for completeness and accuracy.
• Explain applicable contract terms, including amount financed or capitalized cost, payment amount, term, APR or applicable lease charges, down payment or amount due at signing, and other material transaction terms.
• Prepare and review retail installment contracts, lease agreements, buyers' orders, purchase agreements, financing disclosures, title documents, ancillary-product agreements, and other transaction documents.
• Obtain required signatures and provide customers with copies of executed documents.
• Verify that transaction documents are complete, accurate, internally consistent, and compliant before vehicle delivery and funding.
• Coordinate with appropriate personnel to have license plates properly issued. 
• Maintain complete deal jackets and required electronic records.
• Monitor contracts in transit and promptly resolve lender funding deficiencies.
• Coordinate with accounting, sales, title, and funding personnel to ensure timely completion of transactions.
• Maintain relationships with approved banks, credit unions, finance companies, leasing companies, and other financing sources.
• Comply with lender and lessor program requirements without altering or misrepresenting information to obtain an approval.

Compliance Responsibilities

The F&I Assistant is responsible for following all applicable dealership compliance policies and procedures. 

Prohibited Conduct

The F&I Assistant may not:

• falsify or alter a customer's income, employment, residence, down payment, trade information, credit application, or supporting documentation;
• submit false or misleading information to a lender or lessor;
• forge or improperly obtain a customer's signature;
• sign on behalf of a customer without lawful written authority;
• add products, charges, or fees without the customer's knowledge and authorization;
• represent an optional product as mandatory when it is not;
• conceal the price of an optional product;
• misrepresent the terms of financing or a lease;
• engage in payment packing;
• structure transactions to evade legal, lender, or dealership requirements;
• discriminate in financing, pricing, product presentation, or lender selection;
• improperly access or disclose consumer-report or other nonpublic personal information;
• circumvent identity-verification or fraud controls to complete a transaction; or
• instruct another employee to engage in prohibited conduct.

Suspected fraud, document irregularities, identity discrepancies, compliance concerns, or material transaction errors must be promptly escalated to management and/or the dealership's compliance function.

Customer Service Responsibilities

The F&I Assistant shall conduct the F&I process professionally and transparently, provide customers reasonable opportunities to ask questions, accurately explain transaction documents, and avoid high-pressure, misleading, or coercive sales practices.

Customer complaints relating to financing, leasing, optional products, credit applications, pricing, disclosures, or F&I representations must be promptly documented and escalated in accordance with the dealership's Consumer Complaint Policy.

Qualifications

The position generally requires a high school diploma or equivalent, with college education preferred; prior automotive sales, finance, lending, leasing, or F&I experience is required; familiarity with retail installment and vehicle leasing transactions; strong mathematical and analytical skills; strong communication and customer-service skills; attention to detail; ability to review complex transaction documents; proficiency with dealership management, desking, credit-application, and electronic contracting systems; and the ability to obtain and maintain any licenses, registrations, certifications, or training required by applicable law or dealership policy.

Training

The F&I Assistant will complete initial and periodic training assigned by the dealership, which may include FCRA, ECOA/fair lending, TILA/Regulation Z, Consumer Leasing Act/Regulation M, FTC Safeguards Rule, Privacy Rule, Red Flags Rule, OFAC, identity theft and fraud prevention, UDAAP/UDAP, electronic signatures, adverse action, credit reporting, F&I product compliance, and dealership-specific policies and procedures.

Acknowledgment

This job description describes the principal duties and responsibilities of the position but is not intended to constitute an exhaustive list. The dealership may modify duties and responsibilities based on business needs and applicable law.

Nothing in this job description creates a contract of employment or alters the at-will nature of employment where applicable.