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In a motion for a preliminary injunction and accompanying memorandum of points and authorities, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) is asking a California state court to order fintech Opportunity Financial LLC (OppFi) to stop facilitating loans to California borrowers from its partner FinWise Bank at interest rates above the interest rate cap (generally 36% plus the Federal Funds Rate) imposed by the California Financing Law (CFL).… Continue Reading

In a recent press release, the Pennsylvania Attorney General announced that settlements have been reached with Delaware and Florida lenders who made allegedly usurious loans to Pennsylvania residents.  In apparent support of the settlement, the press release cites the Third Circuit’s decision in TitleMax of Delaware, Inc. v. Weissman, in which an out-of-state lender unsuccessfully sought to enjoin the Pennsylvania Department of Banking from investigating loans made to Pennsylvania residents. … Continue Reading

A California state court has overruled the demurrer filed by Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi) to the cross-complaint filed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) in which OppFi asked the court to reject the DFPI’s “true lender” challenge.  In its cross-complaint, the DFPI alleges that California usury law applies to loans made through OppFi’s partnership with FinWise Bank (Bank) because OppFi, and not the Bank, was the “true lender.”… Continue Reading

Four Democratic members of the California state legislature recently sent a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) urging the agency to take action against FDIC-supervised banks that partner with non-bank lenders to originate high-cost installment loans.

Two of the letter’s authors, California Senator Monique Limon and Assemblymember Tim Grayson, were also sponsors of Assembly Bill 539, passed in 2019, which caps the annual interest rate at 36% plus the federal funds rate for consumer loans of at least $2,500 but less than $10,000 made by lenders licensed under the California Financing Law. … Continue Reading

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 interest rate upwards of 130% higher than allowed by state law.  Ms. Michael alleges that OppFi offers “OppLoans” in over 30 states, whereby it originates, underwrites, services and enforces these loans, even claiming the loans on its financial reports. … Continue Reading

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently ruled that the application of Pennsylvania usury laws to auto title loans made to Pennsylvania residents who travel outside of Pennsylvania to obtain such loans does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The decision could have significant implications for all providers of consumer credit whose operations involve cross-border lending.… Continue Reading

Ballard Spahr attorneys have now completed a months-long project in updating and expanding a 2017 White Paper addressing bank-model lending—programs involving partnerships between banks (or savings associations) and fintech or other nonbank companies in the interstate delivery of loans.

The new White Paper, which runs 49 pages single-spaced, is designed to serve as a comprehensive survey of laws, cases and regulatory attitudes addressing bank-model lending.  … Continue Reading

The parties in Petersen v. Chase Card Funding, LLC and Cohen v. Capital One Funding, LLC, have filed Stipulations agreeing to the withdrawal with prejudice of the plaintiffs’ appeals to the Second Circuit from the district courts’ decisions holding that the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts their claims that the interest charged on credit card receivables assigned to affiliated securitization trusts violated New York usury law.… Continue Reading

The plaintiffs in Cohen v. Capital One Funding, LLC and Petersen v. Chase Card Funding, LLC have filed appeals with the Second Circuit from the decisions of two New York federal district courts that held the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts their claims that the interest charged on credit card receivables assigned to affiliated securitization trusts violated New York usury law.… Continue Reading

In Cohen v. Capital One Funding, LLC, the federal district court for the Eastern District of New York  joined the federal district court for the Western District of New York in Petersen v. Chase Card Funding, LLC in holding that the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts claims that the interest charged on credit card receivables assigned to affiliated securitization trusts violated New York usury law.… Continue Reading