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AG SCHWALB SECURES SETTLEMENT WITH FIN-TECH LENDER TO SAFEGUARD DISTRICT
CONSUMERS FROM DECEPTIVE PRACTICES

May 10, 2023

Precedent-Setting Agreement Offers Roadmap for District and States to Protect
Consumers from Predatory Fin-Tech Lenders & Provides Full Restitution to
Impacted Consumers

WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a settlement
with SoLo Funds Inc. (SoLo), an online fin-tech platform that facilitates and
advertises loans to District consumers, which resolves allegations that SoLo
deceived consumers about the true cost of the loans on its platform and
facilitated loans with over 500% APR on average—far exceeding the District's 24%
usury cap. SoLo’s platform is based upon a model in which individual consumers
lend money to other individual consumers. In return for the loan, the borrowers
were required to pay a percentage of the loan as a ‘tip’ to the lenders. SoLo
also solicited borrowers to pay a percentage of the loan to the company as a
‘donation’. 

“Our office will not tolerate Fin-tech lenders resorting to new, deceptive
practices that adversely impact vulnerable residents who are frequently
ineligible for traditional loans,” said AG Schwalb. “SoLo sought to disguise
exorbitant interest charges by deceptively calling them “tips” and “donations.”
This settlement makes clear that we will take decisive legal action against
predatory lending models in the District and nationwide, regardless of whether
the predatory lender is a brick-and-mortar store, or operates entirely online.”

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is the first state-level enforcement
agency to reach a settlement with SoLo regarding its use of tips and donations
to evade usury restrictions. The settlement grants precedent-setting relief for
consumers and establishes a roadmap for other state agencies and future
litigation targeting predatory fin-tech lending models.

OAG alleged that SoLo engaged in deceptive practices in violation of the
District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA), and charged borrowers
interest rates in excess of the District’s 24% usury cap.

 * SoLo encouraged borrowers to use its website and application by advertising
   affordable and flexible loans with no interest and no fees. Yet, by
   compelling nearly all borrowers to provide monetary "tips" and "donations" to
   obtain SoLo loans, the APR for the loans exceeded 500% per loan, which is
   significantly higher than the District's cap of 24%.
    
 * SoLo attracted lenders to its platform by advertising that they could “make a
   quick return on [their] extra cash.” In reality, for a high percentage of the
   loans offered by SoLo, the borrowers either failed to repay the loans on time
   or at all—which SoLo also failed to disclose.

OAG secured robust injunctive relief to prohibit these novel and deceptive
practices, as well as full restitution for impacted consumers and a financial
penalty. As a result of OAG’s investigation and action, SoLo must:

 * Prevent lenders from being able to see whether or not a borrower is offering
   a tip to a lender, or the amount of the tip, prior to the lender’s firm
   commitment to fund a loan.
    
 * Ensure that a borrower’s withholding of a tip or donation will have no impact
   on loan approval by any lender, nor on the terms of any loan offered or
   provided to the borrower.
    
 * Clearly disclose on the SoLo interface that tips are optional and that the
   borrower’s decision on whether to tip or the amount of the tip will not
   impact the borrower’s ability to borrow.
    
 * Provide honest disclosures about how much a lender can expect to earn through
   the SoLo platform.
    
 * Pay $30,000, which will include full reimbursement to District borrowers for
   the tips and donations that they paid to get their loans, as well as a
   payment to the District.

A copy of the settlement agreement is available here.

This matter was handled by Senior Assistant Attorney General Wendy Weinberg and
Assistant Attorney General Emily Barth, with supervision by Adam Teitelbaum,
Director of the Office of Consumer Protection, and Jennifer Rimm, Deputy
Director of the Office of Consumer Protection.

OAG’s Efforts to Combat Predatory Lending  
This settlement builds on OAG’s work to hold predatory lenders accountable. In
2022, OAG secured nearly $4 million from Elevate Credit, Inc. for advertising
misleading high-cost loans with APRs ranging from 99-250%. In November 2021, OAG
announced an over $2 million settlement with Opportunity Financial, LLC, a
predatory online lender that provided deceptive loans to over 4,000 District
consumers and charged interest rates at seven times above the District’s
interest rate cap. In January 2021, OAG joined a multistate lawsuit against the
Trump administration’s True Lender Rule, which made it easier for lenders to
bypass state interest rate caps. In August 2020, OAG joined a coalition of
attorneys general in filing suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation for issuing a rule that would dramatically expand preemption of
state interest-rate caps to non-bank entities. Previously, OAG led a comment
letter opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate rules protecting
consumers from abusive payday and vehicle title loans and led a coalition of 14
states urging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to protect borrowers
from abusive lending practices. OAG also secured more than $3 million in refunds
and debt forgiveness for District residents through a lawsuit against another
exploitative lender that attempted to get around DC law.  

How to Report Illegal or Unfair Business Practices
To report unfair business practices, scams, or fraud, you can contact OAG by:   

 * Submitting a consumer complaint online
   at: https://oag.dc.gov/consumer-protection/submit-consumer-complaint   
 * Calling the OAG Consumer Hotline at (202) 442-9828   
 * Emailing consumer.protection@dc.gov 
 * Sharing a Tip about an unlawful business practice
   at consumer.protection.tips@dc.gov 
 * Visit https://oag.dc.gov/consumer-protection to learn more about OAG’s
   Consumer Protection work 

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