WV Attorney General McGraw Sues to Enforce Subpoenas: Payday Lenders and Collection Agencies

  Attorney General Darrell McGraw continued his effort to curb illegal activities of payday lenders by filing two lawsuits against 12 Internet payday lenders and their collection agencies. Both suits ask the court to order compliance with McGraw’s investigative subpoenas and to enjoin the companies from the continued making or collection of payday loans in West Virginia.

McGraw’s office commenced its investigation of the Internet payday lending industry in earnest in 2005. As of this date McGraw’s office has successfully concluded 75 investigations of Internet payday lenders and their collection agencies, which have netted a total of $1,784,772.82 in cash refunds and cancelled debts for 6,612 West Virginia consumers.

The companies named in today’s filings include the following:

Suit Against Internet Payday Lenders

• Cash Advance Now d/b/a PeoplesPayday.com of Miami, FL
• Debt Doctor, LLC d/b/a Magnum Z, LLC of Wentzville, MO
• Direct ROI d/b/a Cashwest Payday Loans of Mesa, AZ
• E Smart Credit Network d/b/a www.YourLoanServices.com of Miami, FL
• Island Payday, LLC d/b/a www.islandpayday.com of Ogden, UT
• Platinum Finance Company, LLC d/b/a www.PaycheckNow.com of Wilmington, DE
• Sonic Cash, LLC d/b/a Sonic Cash Online Payday of Boise, ID

Suit Against Collection Agencies

• A.C.A Recovery, Inc. of Ridgewood, NJ
• Capital Collections, LLC of Miami, FL
• Covenant Management Group, LLC of Gainesville, GA
• Oasis Financial Solutions, LLC of Orange Park, FL
• Westbury Ventures of Wilmington, DE

Any persons wishing to file a complaint about a consumer matter or to alert the Attorney General about unfair or deceptive practices may do so by calling the Consumer Protection Hot Line, 1-800-368-8808, or by obtaining a complaint form from the consumer web page at http://wvago.gov.