New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued payday lenders MoneyLion Inc. and DailyPay Inc. in New York state court, alleging that the two companies took advantage of tens of thousands of New Yorkers....more
On April 14, the Attorney General (AG) for the State of New York filed two complaints in the New York State Supreme Court, alleging two earned wage access (EWA) providers violated civil and criminal usury provisions, as well...more
On March 11, a class action lawsuit was filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas against a financial technology company offering cash advances up to $200 through a lending app. The lawsuit alleged the company...more
In the last few years, state legislatures have enacted legislation to curtail online bank lending in response to advocacy efforts by consumer activists. Such programs, in which nonbank financial technology companies...more
On Tuesday, November 26, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office (AG) announced it filed a consent order to resolve allegations that online lenders were charging interest on loans in excess of the amounts prescribed under...more
A bill before the New York State Assembly would, if passed, have major implications for a variety of financing transactions in the Empire State. Titled the End Loan Sharking Act, Assembly Bill 9585 would subject a variety of...more
Late last month, Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie introduced B 25-0609, entitled the Protecting Affordable Loans Amendment Act of 2023, that proposes to opt the District of Columbia out of sections 521-523 of the Depository...more
Usury is the unlawful lending of money at unreasonably high rates of interest. So, what is unreasonable? And what happens if your loan goes beyond that amount?...more
California limits the amount of interest that may be charged on loans and forbearances. While that is the general rule, there are numerous statutory exemptions. One of those exemptions can be found in California...more
Does California's usury limitations constitute a "strong public policy"? Seemingly, that question was decided over a half-century ago by the First District Court of Appeal in Ury v. Jewelers Acceptance Corp., 227 Cal. App....more
In December, the State of Iowa and the Iowa Division of Banking entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance (“AOD”) with Transportation Alliance Bank, Inc. (the “Bank”) settling claims that the Bank charged usurious rates of...more
On June 1, 2022, plaintiff Kristen Michael filed a class action lawsuit against FinTech lender Opportunity Financial, LLC (“OppFi”) on behalf of herself and a putative class alleging, inter alia, that OppFi loans money at an...more
On August 24, 2021, the Virginia Attorney General (“Virginia AG”) announced that it entered into settlement with a Virginia-based lender and its managing member over allegations that the lender violated §§ 6.2-303 and...more
Lenders often include fees in loan transactions in addition to an interest rate. Typically such fees are not considered interest, as they compensate the lender for various services or commitments provided under the loan...more
On November 5, 2020, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had filed a complaint against a Florida-based payday lender and its CEO in the Southern District of Florida. The complaint alleges that...more
The industry trade groups challenging the CFPB’s final rule on Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans (the Rule) have filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion follows the filing of an Amended...more
A recently-released Federal Reserve Board article, “The Cost Structure of Consumer Finance Companies and Its Implications for Interest Rates: Evidence from the Federal Reserve Board’s 2015 Survey of Finance Companies,”...more
The Second Circuit’s decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC was announced in 2015. Since that time, there have been a number of cases brought based on the Second Circuit opinion, as well as recent regulatory proposals...more
A frequently asked question in the lending community is whether there is an established amount regarding the maximum late fee that can be charged for a late payment made on a loan in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the answer to...more
The CFPB announced that it has entered into a proposed consent order with Think Finance and six subsidiaries (collectively, the “Think Entities’) to settle the Bureau’s lawsuit filed in November 2017 that alleged the Think...more
On January 27, 2020, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (North Carolina AG) reached ?a settlement with an out-of-state payday lender for $825,000. The Attorney General obtained a consent temporary restraining order...more
On December 30, 2019, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced two actions regarding companies offering unregulated, point-of-sale financing to California residents. In the first action, the DBO...more
New federal legislation introduced in the House and Senate would place a 36% annual percentage rate cap on nearly all consumer loans, potentially killing the small dollar consumer lending industry. Last month, Congressmen...more
A number of diverse stakeholders gathered at George Mason University (GMU) on Nov. 18, 2019, to participate in a program entitled "Consumer Debt in America: What Would Rate Caps and Student Loan Forgiveness Mean?" The debate,...more
Two recent events got me thinking. The first was a new car purchase. Finally persuaded that the newer cars had safety features that were truly life-saving and accident-reducing, my wife and I opted to replace the old bus...more