Tricolor Records Show Same Cars Tied to Thousands of Loans

An initial review of bankrupt subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings’ records shows that at least 29,000 loans pledged to creditors were tied to vehicles already securing other debts.

Roughly 40% out of some 70,000 active Tricolor loans — which were used as collateral for bank warehouse lines and asset-backed securitizations — contained attributes identical to those of at least one other loan, including vehicle identification numbers, according to people involved in the probe, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

Lawyers representing Tricolor and Daniel Chu, the company’s founder, didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did ...