Attorney General Kwame Raoul has thrown the book at Mariner Finance, roping Illinois into a multistate legal battle over deceptive loan practices. According to the Illinois Attorney General's office, the suit, filed with partners from Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, accuses Mariner Finance of slipping hidden fees into consumer loan agreements and padding the bill with unwanted add-on services. Apparently without consumers getting wise, these charges collectively amounted to an eye-watering $121.7 million in 2019 alone.
I joined a multistate lawsuit against Mariner Finance, alleging that the lending company charged consumers for hidden add-on products without their consent. I'm proud to protect the public from deceptive practices and predatory lending schemes: https://t.co/VnzlSHc2n1 pic.twitter.com/b6lZN3pLkE
— Illinois Attorney General (@ILAttyGeneral) April 4, 2024
Speaking out on the filing, Raoul stated, "Consumers thought they had entered into agreements to borrow and repay a specific amount of money, but Mariner quietly added hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of dollars to the total amount each customer owed." These revelations come on the heels of a March 22 motion that saw the states joining a pre-existing suit, originally lodged in a federal district court in Pennsylvania, against the personal lending bigwig.
The legal eagles at the attorney general's offices are going for the juggler, claiming that Mariner employees pulled the wool over consumers' eyes, failing to mention these costly add-ons or falsely representing them as obligatory. Mariner staff are also under the gun for supposedly peddling the false narrative that these add-ons were either free or a pittance, despite reality proving otherwise. Worse still, some folks who outright refused the extra products were billed regardless.
According to the lawsuit details, Mariner wasn't shy about its aggressive tactics to ensnare new debtors. The company's marketing jargon touted the convenience of walking out of a branch with a fresh check the same day. In a high-stakes gamble, Mariner sent out droves of "live checks," banking on them being cashed by unsuspecting recipients. These checks, more often than not, came hitched with hidden add-ons, sending consumers spiraling into a debt trap with teeth.
Demanding justice, the lawsuit is seeking a court order for Mariner to cough up full restitution for borrowers bitten by these tactics, hand back every penny of ill-gotten gains, and get slapped with civil penalties. In addition, it seeks to undo or overhaul any loan agreements tainted by Mariner’s unscrupulous conduct and put a kibosh on charging for add-on products and other questionable practices. Concerned Illinois residents who suspect they've been taken for a ride by Mariner’s dubious lending schemes are urged to file complaints. They can sound the alarm via the Attorney General’s website or ring up the whistle on the Consumer Fraud hotlines, as spelled out in the official announcement.
