Marion Circuit Court Certifies Class of Payday Loan Victims – Cohen & Malad, LLP Appointed Class Counsel
On May 8, 2013, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg certified a class of over 1300 Hoosiers who were charged interest rates as high as 782% APR on payday loans they received from Apex 1 Processing, Inc., otherwise known as “Paycheck Today” or www.paychecktoday.com. The suit alleges that Paycheck Today’s interest rates, and its practice of automatically renewing borrowers’ loans every pay period, trapped victims in a cycle of high-interest debt and violated Indiana’s Small Loans Act and Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. The Court rejected the argument that a provision in the loans waiving a borrower’s right to bring a class action could be enforced against the borrowers.
Attorney Vess Miller of Cohen & Malad, LLP, which the Court appointed to represent the loan victims, commented: “Paycheck Today marketed its loans to people who were in desperate need of money to meet their basic needs, it took advantage of them with outrageous and unlawful interest rates, and it banked on them never being able to do anything about it. This ruling now makes it possible for all of the victims to have their day in Court.”
The Marion Circuit Court previously denied Paycheck Today’s bid to have the case heard in an individual arbitration. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling, and the Indiana Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court declined to hear further appeals by Paycheck Today.
The case is set for trial in early 2014.