More Stupid Things Lenders Do
Published: Fri, 02/20/15
John Q. called me this morning. He owns a payday loan and car title
lending store. He wants to "tighten up" his operation and open 3
more locations. I advised him to get a loan at "your biggest,
baddest competitor in your market in order to copy and emulate
their contracts, disclosures, licensing, and sales pitches." In the
past, this advice USUALLY helps. BOY DID I SCREW UP! Turns out
John's "biggest, baddest competitor" was CashCall operating in
California.
, prefer to read this online on our Blog?
http://paydayloanindustryblog.com/?p=3097
PRESS RELEASE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS OVERSIGHT
Lender CashCall to Pay Restitution, $1 Million in Penalties and
Costs to Settle Case with DBO
SACRAMENTO - The Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced a
settlement with CashCall, Inc. that requires the lender to provide
restitution to thousands of California borrowers, reform its
business practices, and pay the DBO $1 million in penalties and
cost reimbursement.
The DBO alleged CashCall used deceptive sales pitches and marketing
practices to dupe consumers into taking out personal loans of
$2,500 or more even though the customers didn't need or want to
borrow that much money. Here's how the alleged scheme worked:
In ads, CashCall said it provided personal loans of "up to" $2,600,
$5,000 or $10,000. But when consumers called or visited CashCall's
website, they were told the firm did not make loans of less than
$2,600.
If consumers informed CashCall they wanted a loan of less than
$2,600, CashCall told them they could just give back the amount
they did not want in the form of a prepayment. That way, CashCall
told consumers, they could net substantial savings on interest
payments.
However, CashCall failed to tell consumers that since the loan was
for $2,600, the firm could charge unlimited interest rates. On
loans of less than $2,500, in contrast, state law generally caps
interest rates at about 30 percent. On the loans at issue, CashCall
typically charged annual interest of 135 percent or more, and
sometimes up to 179 percent.
To make matters worse in these cases, the DBO alleged CashCall
often failed to withdraw scheduled monthly payments from customers'
bank accounts. That had the effect of lengthening the loan term and
reducing any interest savings.
"CashCall engaged in a large-scale predatory lending scheme," said
DBO Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen.
"This settlement holds the company accountable for its unlawful
conduct and compensates the victims of these unscrupulous
practices."
The settlement resolves allegations filed by DBO last year that
CashCall unlawfully deceived consumers, filed false reports with
the Commissioner and made false representations to the Commissioner.
CashCall will pay wronged borrowers $125 each in restitution. The
final number of eligible borrowers and the ultimate restitution
total will be determined by a third-party auditor who will examine
CashCall's files.
CashCall's preliminary review of its files indicates thousands of
customers will receive restitution. CashCall must make the
restitution payments within 90 days.
State law caps interest rates on consumer and commercial loans made
by non-bank lenders. But the limits only apply to loans smaller
than $2,500. The law imposes no interest rate restrictions on loans
of $2,500 or
more.
To prevent similar violations in the future, the settlement
requires CashCall to reform the way it conducts business.
In all ads that market non-mortgage and non-auto loans to
Californians, CashCall now will disclose in a "clear and
conspicuous manner" that the minimum loan amount is $2,600.
Additionally, when customers say they want to borrow less than
$2,600, CashCall now will have to tell them the firm does not make
loans for less than that amount, that state law caps interest rates
on loans of less than $2,500 at about 30 percent, and that the
capped rate is lower than the rate CashCall charges.
The firm will
implement additional consumer protection reforms required by the
settlement agreement.
Link to original press release:
http://www.dbo.ca.gov/Press/press_releases/2015/CashCall_Settlement_Announcement_02-05-15.pdf
Guys, this is just plain stupid if true. Maybe CashCall decided
it's cheaper to pay the mickey-mouse fine rather than litigate. Who
knows! Just don't do stupid stuff!