How we got here
In 1958 the United States put the manufacturer's suggested price on the window of a new car so the desk could not invent list. In 1976 Congress said automobile leases needed the same kind of honesty. In 1996 the Federal Reserve looked at requiring a lease rate, called it valuable in principle, and declined to require it.
Purchase got a sticker that stays on the glass. Lease got a payment box timed to the signature. The price of money on a car lease was considered. It was not required. That is still the law.
What we do
Reg M asks if they disclosed. We ask if the structure is any good.
We score a published special only when that special prints the factory window-sticker number for this car. Otherwise we name what is missing and stop. No prelim. No invented class.
CrackScore is a 0–100 classification of a complete special — same rules for every roof. CrackRate names the price of money only after the federal box actually exists. The kernel stays private. We never invent a number. Dealers advertise. We score. You ask.
The regulatory path
Franchise fortress, price packing — the environment that produced the sticker.
Senator Mike Monroney / Automobile Information Disclosure Act 1958 — car, factory options, freight, total. The sticker on the window.
Leasing as workaround — new deal structure, same opacity.
Consumer Leasing Act 1976 — purpose: compare lease to lease and lease to credit.
1996 Reg M — Board holding: "A lessor is not required to disclose the cost of a lease expressed as a percentage rate." Volunteered % may not be called APR; 12 C.F.R. § 1013.4(s) muzzle.
CARS Rule vacated Jan 27 2025, withdrawn Feb 12 2026 — attempted reform, reversed.
Today — Mortgage still gets Loan Estimate + APR; lessee gets monthly and a signature line.
The disclosure gap
| Document | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Monroney sticker | Already on unit; describes a purchase not a lease |
| Reg M box | Before bound, not when you first ask; does not name the rate |
| Advertised monthly | Does not show term/miles/cap/residual/fees or cap vs glass |
| Volunteered 2.9% | Muzzle forbids APR / annual lease rate |
Two desks can print the same monthly; the ad will not tell you which story. The hole is a Federal Register page.
For shoppers
You do not need the money factor to know whether the lease is any good. You do need the factory window-sticker number on THIS special. Without it, there is no class.
CrackScore primary only when that number is on the special; else name missing and stop. CrackRate after cap and residual are both on the federal ladder.
On X
Screenshot or paste the published special, tag @LeaseCrack; score only when factory number is on that special.
At the rooftop
Lock VIN, read boxed MSRP, ask for the federal box on that VIN before monthly. No VIN, no deal. No glass, no deal. No federal box, no monthly.
Honest dealer
Dealer-blind, no ranking, no placement, no paid class. Same rules for every roof. Not advertiser, lead broker, best-list, payment quote, or credit decision. No factory number, no class.
What we will not do
Publish the kernel
Pretend CrackScore is an APR
Class a special that withholds the factory number
Stay silent until you sign
One sentence
CrackScore measures the value of the lease the 1996 form refused to price. CrackRate names the price of money after you've been given the numbers the form already requires. Neither tool asks the dealership to print a rate the Board told them they don't have to print.
Sources
Automobile Information Disclosure Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1231–1233 (1958)
Consumer Leasing Act purpose clause, 15 U.S.C. § 1601(b) (1976)
Regulation M rate decline, Board of Governors, Docket R-0892, 61 Fed. Reg. 52246 (Sept. 27, 1996); 12 C.F.R. § 1013.4(s)
FTC CARS Rule vacated Jan. 27, 2025; withdrawn Feb. 12, 2026