FILE PHOTO: U.S. dollar banknotes are displayed in this illustration taken, February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

By Manya Saini

(Reuters) -Subprime lender PrimaLend Capital Partners filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, in another sign that low-income consumers in the United States are under strain.

The company's filings in a Texas court showed that it listed both assets and liabilities of less than $500 million.

PrimaLend provides financing to consumer and specialty lenders through asset-based credit facilities. It also serves the "buy-here-pay-here" auto financing market, where dealers sell and directly finance vehicles for customers with poor or limited credit.

"We want to be clear: there is no impact to our dealer-borrowers' loans or terms. No debt is being called due or accelerated as a result of this process," PrimaLend CEO Mark Jensen said. "We are pursuing a sale process to maximize value of the business and strengthen our balance sheet."

The company is operating as usual with no disruptions, it said in a statement, reiterating that it is not going out of business.

Bloomberg News first reported on the bankruptcy earlier in the day.

Subprime lenders provide loans to borrowers with weaker credit histories or lower credit scores.

Last month, Bloomberg News reported that PrimaLend's creditors were weighing pushing the firm into bankruptcy after going unpaid for months.

Many lower-income consumers, according to analysts, are finding it harder to keep up with payments, prompting an uptick in delinquencies across auto, personal loan and credit card portfolios.

The strain reflects the cumulative impact of high borrowing costs, rising living expenses and depleted savings, which have left subprime borrowers particularly vulnerable to financial shocks.

PrimaLend said despite industry-wide headwinds, including post-pandemic inflation and interest-rate pressure, its underlying business is "fundamentally strong."

Separately, Tricolor, which sold cars and provided auto loans mostly to low-income Hispanic communities in the Southwestern United States, also filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

Its bankruptcy has shocked credit investors and drawn allegations of fraud and misconduct in recent weeks.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)