On October 14, 2016, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office (Indiana AG) announced that it had reached a settlement with an online payday lender. The Indiana AG alleged that the lender employed a “rent-a-tribe” scheme in which it allegedly associated itself with a Native American tribe in order to bypass the Indian Deceptive…
On October 4, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued an order requiring that a racecar driver and several corporate defendants pay $1.3 billion in relation to a Kansas City-based payday lending scheme. The order also bans the individual…
On August 31, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) obtained summary judgment against a California-based online payday lender, its individual owner, its subsidiary, and a servicer of its loans, which allegedly used a “rent-a-tribe” scheme to avoid state usury and licensing laws in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. According to the…
On August 19, the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Minnesota (Minnesota AG) announced that it had settled a lawsuit against a California-based online lender relating to an alleged “rent-a-tribe” scheme. The settlement bars the lender from doing business in Minnesota unless and until it complies with the state’s usury, lending,…
On June 24, the Arkansas Attorney General (AG) announced a settlement with three entities and two individuals, resolving allegations that the defendants conspired to offer illegal payday loans to consumers online while claiming to be affiliated with a Native American tribe. The complaint, filed in 2013, alleged that the defendants violated Arkansas state law…
On June 21, 2016, the North Carolina Attorney General announced that two online fast cash lenders have agreed to pay more than $9 million in refunds for allegedly illegal loans issued to North Carolina consumers. The settlement stems from a December 2013 complaint alleging that the lenders violated North Carolina usury…
On May 18, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced a consent order with a debt buyer for purchasing and collecting on allegedly illegal payday loans made to New York consumers, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and New York state law. The settlement requires the…
On May 18, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced a consent order with a Virginia debt buyer for collecting on illegal payday loans from New York consumers, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and New York state law. Between 2012 and 2014, the debt buyer…
On May 11, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it is taking action against a Mississippi-based check cashing and payday lending company and its owner for purportedly “tricking and trapping” customers. According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, the defendants…
On April 21, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed two lawsuits in federal court in the Central District for California against the founders of an online lead aggregator website, which allegedly sold loan applications to lenders and other companies without properly vetting the sources of the data…
On March 17, 2016, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that it entered into a consent order and settlement with a financial services company over allegations the company offered illegal online payday loans in New York. The company allegedly operated an online payday loan “lead generation” business. Although payday lending is…
On January 7, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and its law enforcement partners announced four separate actions against various debt collectors. The FTC stated that the actions were part of a continuing nationwide crackdown referred to as “Operation Collection Protection,” which is designed to target debt collectors using illegal tactics. The FTC claims the debt…
On January 5, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that two online payday lenders reached a settlement with the FTC to resolve charges that payday lenders illegally charged consumers undisclosed and inflated fees. As part of the settlement, each company agreed to a penalty of $2.2 million and combined waived $68 million in uncollected consumer…
On December 18, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a $4 million settlement with a Delaware-based online payday lender. The Attorney General had alleged that the lender violated the state’s consumer finance statutes by imposing illegal charges on consumers who received open-ended loans, and violated the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (VCPA) by misrepresenting…
On November 25, 2015, the West Virginia Attorney General announced a $13 million settlement with a non-bank payday lender to finally resolve alleged abusive debt collections and usury rates violating the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act and other state law. According to a May 2014 West Virginia Supreme Court of…
On December 16, 2015, the CFPB announced a consent order and settlement with a small-dollar lender concerning its debt collection practices in 15 states. According to the consent order, the lender’s unlawful conduct allegedly included: in-person collection visits at consumers’ homes and workplaces and phone calls to supervisors, landlords, and…
On November 20, 2015, the CFPB published its current rulemaking agenda. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, the CFPB drafts and implements new regulations governing certain consumer finance products and services. The CFPB publishes its regulatory agenda twice a year, which summarizes the proposed regulations (or “rules”) the Bureau is…
On September 1, 2015, North Carolina Special Court Superior Judge Gregory P. McGuire issued a preliminary injunction barring a North Dakota-based online fast cash lender from advertising, lending, and collection activity in the state of North Carolina. The preliminary injunction bars the lender and its affiliated companies from advertising, offering or entering into contracts to…
On August 4, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it filed a complaint against several interrelated offshore companies accused of engaging in usurious lending. The complaint alleges that the companies originated, serviced and collected payday loans from consumers in all 50 states through the Internet. It is alleged that companies collected money…
On July 7, 2015, the FTC announced that it reached two stipulated settlements (available here and here) with payday lenders who allegedly deceived customers by signing them up for loans without their permission and then withdrawing “finance” charges indefinitely. The settlements stem from allegations in a complaint filed last year that defendants “purchase consumers’ sensitive financial information from online lead generators or data…