Gibbs v. Plain Green, LLC and Great Plains Lending, LLC – $55 million groundbreaking settlement

CLA represented classes against lenders Plain Green, LLC and Great Plains Lending, LLC for violations of federal and various state laws by (a) making and collecting loans with annual interest rates in excess of the amount allowed by state law; (b) lending to consumers when these entities were required to have a license from a state to lend and did not have that license; (c) servicing or collecting activities on the illegal loans; and (d) their involvement in and support of other parties’ conduct. The case resulted in a watershed settlement the defendants refunded consumers’ money, cancelled loans, agreed to cease attempting to collect them and agreed not to sell, transfer, or assign the loans. They also agreed not to sell borrowers’ personal information. The consumer refunds alone totaled approximately $55,750,000.