Advance Financial 24/7 Predatory Lending Class Action

The complaint for this class action brings suit against Shiva Finance, LLC and Harpeth Financial Services, LLC for predatory lending practices. Among them are requiring an arbitration clause the companies themselves don’t abide by, failure to make legally-required disclosures, and making unauthorized electronic withdrawals from bank accounts.

Shiva does business in Virginia as Advance Financial 24/7. Harpeth owns the service mark for Advance. Shiva is in the business of making loans to consumers at 360% annual interest.

In making loans, Shiva uses a contract with an arbitration clause, the complaint says, “which effectively states that all disputes concerning the credit agreement are to be handled in arbitration and that both Shive and its borrowers waive their right to pursue a lawsuit in any other court than small claims court.”

The complaint says that Shiva uses the clause to hold off lawsuits by borrowers while it simply violates the clause: “Shiva sues consumers in General District Court in Virginia when it seeks to collect on allegedly unpaid balances of its loans.” In fact, Shiva sued most of the fifteen plaintiffs in this case.

In addition to the misrepresentation of the arbitration clause, the complaint alleges other violations of federal and state law:

• Requiring the authorization of electronic debits before extending credit.
• Failing to disclose information as required under federal law when making loans.
• Making harassing phone calls with an automatic telephone dialing system.
• Making unauthorized electronic withdrawals from consumer bank accounts.
• Making usurious loans.

The complaint alleges conversion, usury, and violation of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Electronics Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), among other things.

The complaint outlines three classes (with a number of subclasses and one sub-subclass).

The Virginia Shiva Consumer Class is all individuals who live in Virginia and who entered into a loan agreement with Shiva or Harpeth.:

The Consumers with Shiva Calls Class is any individual living in Virginia who, between July 19, 2016 and July 19, 2020, either received calls from Shiva or Harpeth after telling them to stop calling or received calls from Shiva or Harpeth made with an automatic telephone dialing system without having the person’s consent to receive such calls. This has one subclass:

The Consumers with Improper Debits Class is any individual who lives in Virginia, entered into a loan agreement with Shiva or Harpeth, had revoke authorization for the companies to electronically transfer funds from a bank account, and, between March 16, 2015 and July 19, 2020, either Shiva or Harpeth continued to electronically withdraw funds from that bank account. This has one subclass:

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Loans
Tags: EFTA, Predatory Lending, TCPA, Truth in Lending, Unlawful Debt Collection