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Online Lender Settles Allegations of Charging Usury Interest and Operating Without a License

  • District of Columbia AG Karl Racine reached a settlement with online lender Elevate Credit, Inc. to resolve allegations it used misleading tactics to market loans with unlawfully high interest rates to consumers in violation of the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
  • The complaint alleged that Elevate marketed loan products with interest rates as high as 251% APR, which is 42 times higher than the District’s 24% legal rate cap, and that Elevate operated in the District without obtaining the required money lender license.
  • Under the terms of the consent judgment, Elevate will refund at least $3.3 million to consumers, waive over $300,000 in interest owed by those consumers, and pay $450,000 to the District. Elevate will also stop marketing loans with unlawful interest rates, facilitate the permanent removal of any negative credit reporting associated with its loans, and will not misrepresent itself to consumers as being licensed to offer loans in the District, among other things.