Los Angeles just handed OppFi a major courtroom win, at least for now.
On May 19, 2026, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary D. Roberts issued a Statement of Decision granting summary judgment to OppFi and rejecting the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s push to treat the company as the “true lender” behind its OppLoans product. Roberts concluded the record did not show that FinWise Bank was a mere dummy lender or that the parties’ arrangement was a sham, which, for the moment, blocks the DFPI’s effort to shut the program down. The ruling is a big boost for bank‑fintech partnerships and gives fresh legal momentum to chartered bank models across the industry.
In his written opinion, Roberts found that FinWise independently underwrote and approved loans, used its own capital to fund them, retained ownership interests, and took on meaningful economic risk, according to the court’s Statement of Decision as posted by Consumer Finance Monitor. The order follows a tentative ruling he issued in February and was entered as a final statement on May 19.
California’s Fair Access to Credit Act (AB 539) took effect in 2020 and caps certain consumer loans at 36 percent. That statute underpinned the DFPI’s enforcement push. The agency has said OppLoans carried rates it estimated could reach roughly 160 percent, as reported by Banking Dive and reflected in the bill text. In 2022, the DFPI filed a cross‑complaint seeking to enjoin OppFi, void existing loans, and impose restitution and penalties on the company.
Why the judge sided with the bank
Roberts grounded his ruling in long‑standing usury doctrine and the federal “valid‑when‑made” concept, emphasizing that a loan that is lawful when it is originated does not suddenly become usurious because it is later sold or assigned. Legal observers note that the court highlighted FinWise’s substantive role in underwriting, funding, compliance oversight, and ongoing audits, facts that, in the judge’s view, separate a real bank partner from a straw lender, as detailed by Consumer Finance Monitor.
Industry lawyers were quick to cheer. An Orrick spokesperson called the ruling “one of the most significant judicial validations of the bank‑fintech partnership model to date” in a statement to Banking Dive. OppFi said it was “pleased with the result,” while the DFPI stayed quiet and declined to comment publicly.
What comes next
The court noted that the DFPI has 60 days to file an appeal, and many practitioners expect the agency to seek review, according to analysis from Consumer Finance Monitor. An appellate ruling could directly address the broader statutory and administrative issues the trial court said it did not need to reach this time around.
OppFi's path forward
Against that backdrop, OppFi announced on April 29 that it had agreed to acquire BNCCORP and BNC National Bank in a roughly $130 million cash‑and‑stock deal, a move the company said would speed up its push to secure a banking charter, per OppFi. The transaction, which OppFi expects to close in the fourth quarter pending regulatory approvals, would reduce the company’s reliance on third‑party bank partners and could shift the regulatory dynamics in future disputes of this kind.
For now, the Los Angeles ruling keeps OppFi’s program intact and bolsters similar bank‑fintech partnerships, even as it leaves the underlying administrative and statutory questions the DFPI raised unresolved. Regulators, banks, and fintechs are likely to keep a close eye on this case as the appeal clock runs down.
