Commitments And Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Guarantees of Indebtedness

The payments of principal and interest on senior notes issued by our top-tier holding company are guaranteed by AFSI. At September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the par value of these senior notes was $7.5 billion and $4.0 billion. See Note 15 - "Guarantor Consolidating Financial Statements" for further discussion.

Legal Proceedings

As a consumer finance company, we are subject to various consumer claims and litigation seeking damages and statutory penalties, based upon, among other things, usury, disclosure inaccuracies, wrongful repossession, violations of bankruptcy stay provisions, certificate of title disputes, fraud, breach of contract and discriminatory treatment of credit applicants. Some litigation against us could take the form of class action complaints by consumers and certain legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. We establish reserves for legal claims when payments associated with the claims become probable and the payments can be reasonably estimated. Given the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of litigation and regulatory matters, it is generally very difficult to predict what the eventual outcome will be, and when the matter will be resolved. The actual costs of resolving legal claims may be higher or lower than any amounts reserved for the claims. At September 30, 2014, we estimated our reasonably possible legal exposure for unfavorable outcomes to be $125 million, and have accrued $58 million.

Other Administrative Tax Matters

We accrue non-income tax liabilities for contingencies when management believes that a loss is probable and the amounts can be reasonably estimated, while contingent gains are recognized only when realized. In the event any losses are sustained in excess of accruals, they will be charged against income at that time.

In evaluating indirect tax matters, we take into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of similar nature, specific facts and circumstances, and the likelihood of prevailing. We reevaluate and update our accruals as matters progress over time. It is reasonably possible that some of the matters for which accruals have not been established could be decided unfavorably to us and could require us to make expenditures for which we estimate the aggregate risk to be a range of up to $75 million.