SF BayView, News Report, Posted: Dec 31, 2012

A three-month outreach effort aimed at identifying and educating Check ‘n Go borrowers whose online installment loans at excessive interest rates may entitle them to significant repayments for interest, fees and finance charges launched Dec. 27 with a press announcement in San Francisco City Hall. The 90-day refund program, which will include events with consumer advocates and elected leaders throughout California, is among the terms of an agreement San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera negotiated with the payday lender last June to settle litigation filed in 2007 by Herrera’s Consumer Protection Unit.

San Francisco’s civil action alleged that the Cincinnati-based Check ‘n Go engaged in an illicit “rent-a-bank” scheme aimed at skirting California’s maximum allowable annual interest rate of no more than 36 percent for that type of loan. According to records obtained before and during the course of the litigation, Check ‘n Go made online installment loans to California consumers with interest rates as high as 400 percent – far in excess of what state law allows – as late as June 2008.

Though Check ‘n Go acknowledged no wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, the company agreed to commit $4.3 million toward restitution to borrowers who obtained online loans between November 2006 and June 2008. Refunds are expected to range from $20 to more than $4,600 for each eligible claimant.

Read the rest here: SF Bay View