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American First Finance Loans Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A consumer lodged a class action lawsuit against lender American First Finance, Inc.
- Why: The plaintiff claims American First Finance is not licensed to provide loans in California and charges interest rates that exceed maximum legal limits.
- Where: The class action lawsuit is pending in California federal court.
American First Finance is an unlicensed lender that deceives consumers into receiving loans with interest rates that exceed the maximum legal limit, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Larry Facio claims American First Finance is not licensed to provide loans in California and fails to disclose the essential terms of the loans they unlawfully offer.
Facio wants to represent a California Class of consumers who purchased goods or services from retail businesses affiliated with the lender who are, or who the company claims to be bound to its security agreement.
American First Finance Hid Terms, Charged ‘Exorbitant’ Interest, Claims Class Action
The plaintiff says he was never informed his purchase was being financed by American First Finance or what the financing terms would be when he bought tires for his car at Roseville Wheels & Tires in 2017.
Facio claims he was told he would not have to pay any interest on the tires if he paid in full within 100 days, however, he ended up being charged an “exorbitant” interest rate for his purchase and was only informed his loan had been assigned to American First Finance after he contacted the retailer.
“Had he known of the interest rates and other terms of the financing, Mr. Facio would have refused to complete the transaction,” states the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff says he was made to sign a security agreement at the time of his purchase, but that he was never shown the financing terms.
“Mr. Facio was not informed about AFF and believed that his payments would be made to Roseville Wheels & Tires,” states the class action lawsuit. “He was not shown the face of the computer to know what he was authorizing by e-signing on the small electronic pad.”
American First Finance later provided documents to Facio which showed the purchase contract was not manually assigned, but instead was computer generated, according to the class action lawsuit.
The documents also stipulated that he could only contact the lender to discuss the terms of his loan, the class action lawsuit alleges.
Facio claims retailers go along with the “fraudulent and illegal” scheme because it helps them sell their products or services to customers who want to use a payment plan the company wouldn’t otherwise be able to offer.
“AFF recruits new merchants with the claim that merchants who offer AFF loans can ‘supercharge sales’ and AFF decisions to finance loans will be ‘super fast!’,” states the class action lawsuit.
Facio claims AFF is in violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law, and the Unruh Act, Civil Code § 1801.
Facio is demanding a jury trial and is requesting monetary damages, statutory or punitive damages, and restitution for himself and all Class Members.
A separate class action lawsuit revolving around allegedly unsavory loans was filed in California this month by consumers who argue that Wells Fargo and other lenders offer loans to first time home buyers that are designed to fail.
American First Finance competitor Affirm Holdings was accused of tricking consumers into purchasing more, and paying high fees later, with “buy now, pay later” payment plans, in a class action lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Have you been charged a high interest rate after being unknowingly financed by American First Finance? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Robert S. Green, James Robert Noblin, and Emrah M. Sumer of Green & Noblin, P.C., Alicia L. Hinton of the Law Office of A.L. Hinton, and James C. Sturdevant of The Sturdevant Law Firm, APC.
The American First Finance Loans Class Action Lawsuit is Facio v. American First Finance, Inc., Case No. 3:21-cv-08184, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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130 thoughts onAmerican First Finance, Unlicensed in California, Charges Illegally High Interest, Says Class Action
I bought a $700 tv and have paid every week $43 for a year! I’m paying interest above the legal limit! Help!!!
I too was swindled by AFF. For a $900 necklace, I owe $3500? Crazy to think about it. Where can I be a part of this suit?
We need to join the class action lawsuit as well. They did the same shady scheme with us. So upset. Never again American First my ass!
I was approved for a $3,200 loan – I’ve paid $3,000 on it and my remaining balance in my customer portal shows $2,700. I cannot get through to this company. I’m trying to buy my first home and this lender is haunting me. I Keep paying my bi-weekly $200 payments, but when should I stop? This is getting ridiculous.
Im still paying on these tires cause i dont want them to screw me over on my credit score “2nd comment “
American First Finance used for car repairs and only after signing up was there an email explaining the payment terms. I would never be able to afford $355/ month for a loan payment for car repairs. Customer service lies and does not do what they say they will do. I stopped them from accessing my account because they went in on unauthorized dates for unauthorized amounts.
Hello i too have been swindled by american first finance they promised i would be making one payment a month but it turned out to be two payments a month and now they are charging me 100 percent intrest on tires i was financed on i have more than payed for these tires and im still making payments on them still i have no idea when they say i will be done but they also took advantage of the fact no one else would finance me and they targeted me knowing i would be for it considering i needed to work on my credit and was really desprate to get this loan for the tires i needed im about to be homeless cause i have to make this payment and its putting me in a financial bind cause i thought i would be done by now paying them off.
I need help American first finance has done the same to me as well when I bought tires I’m still paying even though tire company said it would be less total it’s past that amount now and their still charging me
Interested in being a part of this Class Action. The payments are killing me. Trying to figure out, now, how to handle my account with them.
How do I contact y’all? My names Shelby ring and American first financed screwed me over also and ripped me off!! And have ruined my credit
Please contact me, I need to be a part of this lawsuit. American First Finance has me trapped paying them a ton of money monthly, making it financially hard to survive.
I’m in NC and purchased a living room set last year for 1,099 and has paid over 2,000 for it so far. I just spoke to a representative from American First Finance who informed me I’ll actually pay 3,000 when it’s all said and done because of the 1,000 leasing fee they charge after so many months. Never again will this happen, I feel ripped off becuase I thought I’d be done paying for the purchase this month.
Help me I didn’t know I would end up paying almost 4,000 in interest for my 1,116 bedroom set. I was so upset but didn’t know what to do