What Happened? Following the path of nine other states that have enacted laws to regulate commercial non real estate secured financing, on May 28, 2025, the Texas legislature passed a “commercial sales-based financing” bill,...more
The Arkansas legislature recently passed House Bill 1517, which creates an earned wage access law in the state. It will be one of the relatively few such laws in the country. One interesting question is whether the law...more
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 7, DailyPay, LLC, an employer-integrated earned wage access (EWA) provider, filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, seeking declaratory relief to prevent the enforcement of state and federal...more
Last month, the Texas legislature introduced two companion bills, S.B. No. 2677 and H.B. No. 700, to regulate sales-based commercial financing. For purposes of the proposed legislation, sales-based financing is a transaction...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
Oregon may become the latest state attempting to stop out-of-state banks from “exporting” home-state interest rates on loans made to Oregon consumers. Like similar legislation adopted by Colorado in 2023, House Bill 2561...more
On January 16, 2025, Yellowstone Capital and other entities, along with Yellowstone officers Isaac Stern and Jeffrey Reece, settled claims by New York Attorney General Letitia James that Yellowstone and the other entities...more
In the current world, where trade ties are vital in strengthening the economy of a country, it is often necessary to enter into legal contracts with various entities around the world. It is also necessary that these contracts...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
On September 20, 13 states and Washington, D.C. joined Colorado in its appeal asking the Tenth Circuit to uphold a state law imposing more restrictive interest rate caps on loans from out-of-state banks to residents, arguing...more
On May 17, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed suit against an online lending platform, alleging, among other things, the use of dark patterns to induce consumers to pay tips and donations,...more
California Corporations Code Section 25118(b) provides an exemption from the state's usury limitations for loans. The exemption is subject to several conditions. One condition is the existence of either a preexisting...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
A California state court recently denied a preliminary injunction sought by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the DFPI) in its long-running litigation against Opportunity Financial (OppFi)...more
By: Jeffrey M. Haber In our last article (here), we examined a choice-of-law provision that, if applied, would violate New York public policy concerning usurious loans. In that case, Virginia law, which does not prohibit...more
On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a two-to-one split decision, held that an exemption to California’s usury laws for certain “aggregate” loan amounts applies only to indebtedness of a single...more
In Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate & Debt Fund II, LLC v. Park Street Group Realty Services, LLC, the Michigan Supreme Court considered whether a court may enforce a usury savings clause in a mortgage agreement. A usury...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
In its April 2023 Opposition to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) motion for preliminary injunction, Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi) presents a spirited riposte, drilling down into the...more
As discussed here, in April 2023, Colorado introduced HB 1229 that proposed to limit certain charges on consumer loans and simultaneously opt Colorado out of sections 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and...more
On May 10, SoLo Funds, Inc. (Solo), one of the largest community lending platforms in the United States, entered into a settlement with the District of Columbia attorney general (OAG). The settlement resolves claims that the...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