July 10, 2023
A Virginia federal judge on Monday agreed to toss usury claims against a loan financier at the request of Virginia borrowers who accused him of partnering with a Native American tribe to issue usurious loans — an order that comes after the plaintiffs obtained $43.4 million in damages against the embroiled lender.
June 29, 2023
A loan financier who is accused of partnering with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to evade usury regulations must face allegations under Virginia state law, a federal judge said, widening the scope of an upcoming trial relevant to thousands of customers.
May 23, 2023
A non-Native loan vendor says a class action in which borrowers claim he violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by partnering with a tribe to issue loans with illegally high interest rates relies on an erroneous theory that the court should apply Virginia's usury laws to the case.
July 21, 2021
A Virginia federal judge certified two classes of borrowers who claim non-Native vendor Matt Martorello violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act when he partnered with the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to issue loans with illegally high rates.
January 21, 2021
A proposed class of loan borrowers wants to sanction a vendor for tribal companies involved in online lending, accusing him of engaging in a "Stalingrad defense" and doing everything he can to delay complying with discovery requests.
June 09, 2020
A vendor for two Michigan tribal companies involved in online lending has asked a Virginia federal court to toss a proposed class action saying he used the tribe's sovereign legal status to charge usurious interest rates, saying it's up to Congress to change laws favoring Indian Country.
February 10, 2020
The founder and former CEO of a consulting company that was sold and merged into an online lender accused of flouting usury laws has asked a Virginia federal court to consolidate three proposed class actions, arguing the plaintiffs asked for the same in a move for multidistrict litigation that's since been withdrawn.
June 10, 2019
A proposed class of consumers asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Friday to combine eight lawsuits accusing Big Picture Loans LLC of taking advantage of the sovereign legal status granted to Native American tribes in order to charge unreasonably high interest rates on online loans.
May 17, 2019
Consumers accusing a tribe-linked online lender of issuing loans at unreasonably high interest rates urged a Virginia federal court Thursday to sanction the founder of a company connected to the lender, saying he has failed to comply with an order to turn over counsel documents.
May 06, 2019
A Virginia federal judge has ordered the founder of a company connected to a tribe-linked online lender to turn over counsel documents to consumers accusing the lender of issuing loans with unreasonably high interest rates, ruling the founder had waived attorney-client privilege.