Ohio Commerce Div Finance Consumer Affairs

This is the problem when you go to a website for legal advice instead of a local attorney. Plenty of people will hand out legal opinions anonymously - even though they don't live in your state and aren't licensed attorneys - since they can never be sued for malpractice or charged criminally for unauthorized practice of law. It always amazes me how many people assume they know what is "legal" and what is "illegal" simply because they read it in someone else's anonymous post. In fact, let's put it to the test. Everyone on the site that feels qualified to say whether payday loans are "legal" or not, feel free to answer:1) What are the choice of law statutes in every, single state that would determine whether the choice of law clauses in payday loan contracts or valid? I see plenty of people come on here and say they "have" to follow the laws of the borrower's state. So show us where it says that, please?2) What does every single state say happens if an unlicensed lender makes a loan to a state resident? Is the loan automatically void or does the lender simply risk a fine for a licensing violation? Is there a maximum number of loans an unlicensed lender is allowed to make before he has to get a license? 3) How does the Supremacy and Interstate Commerce clauses of the U.S. Constitution affect the ability of state's to enforce their laws? If federal law allows banks to export interest rates (a big deal in the negotiations of the Financial Reform bill, BTW) does that mean a Delaware bank CAN make Maura's loan in Ohio? If a treaty approved by Congress (the General Agreement on Trade in Services) specifically permits cross-border consumer lending subject only to national laws, does that mean the guys in Grenada and Panama can lend to her? Or the guys on the Indian reservations, since they have their own treaties with the U.S. government? Or are there clauses in each of these that preserve a role for the states.4) Since Arizona lets it payday loan law lapse and Ohio, Illinois and other states recently changed their laws, does that apply retroactively to loans taken out before that? What if an old loan is refinanced - does the new law or the old one apply?BTW - I already know the answers to these questions. I did my three years of law school and spent the last twenty years practicing. Just curious to see if anyone can provide the real answers . . . or if it will just be the answers that match their own beliefs as to what SHOULD be true.

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The key word used was [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=black] separate legal entities. Which is what I was trying to emphasize when I said that FBD do not have to follow the payday loan laws! They are NOT payday lenders, nor are they non-depository lenders.
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"NO, the problem is the interpretation, also, people like you who jump on a bandwagon and make accusations BEFORE you have all the facts." Which facts did I miss? That you are Idaho, rather than Ohio? That according to your own posts on these boards, you are not an attorney. In fact, like most posters your main qualification to give advice - based again on your own posts - is that you once borrowed some payday loans yourself. Or that you continue to render legal opinions on how Ohio and federal laws should be interpreted even though a) the poor lady is already obviously confused about this advice and b) you are committing a felony under Ohio law by doing so. The mods are always demanding that payday lenders obey the borrowers' state laws. Maybe you should stop picking and choosing which laws you obey yourselves.

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In all honesty, the poster claiming to be an atty make alot of valid points. There are really 3-sides to every story and in this case opinion. There is your side, my side and the right side. It is human nature to embelish or spin your story/opinion to reinforce your beliefs and both sides do this with the truth actually falling somewhere in the middle. When one is looking for advice, they are going to only listen to the side that fits thier needs and then only the parts of that side that they like and can use.

Now, all of that leads us to this thread. The OP has read a bunch of infromation on this thread, but based on the way it was communicated it was misunderstood. It was so misunderstood, that they thought that the people on here knew more that the officials in Ohio that regulated and license the industry! We, and I mean everyone offering advice, need to be very careful when supplying opinion vs fact. The directions that are provided for unlicensed lenders is vastly different than that of legal, licensed lenders.

There is alot of good information on here from people that know what they are talking about, but there is also very poor information coming from people that should know better! Becareful who you "bash" and who you support, as there are some pretty smart folks that have been shutdown because their views do not match those of some on this board.

Just because you do not like what they say, does not make them incorrect...

I clarified two items which were referenced;
Payments plans offered per the guidelines set forth by the CFSA but interpreted as: "no such law about payment plans for Ohio payday loans".

The other:
"not all state laws regarding payday loans are the same, in some states, the state law prevails for which the person (customer/borrower) is located and has presence in, in other states it does not." but interpreted as: "The mods are always demanding that payday lenders obey the borrowers' state laws"

Easy there Shazz! No one pointed a finger at you, I only pointed out a few general items. If all of the "leaders" on here are clear with thier comments and directions, then no one should be worried....

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[QUOTE=Shazzers;718236]Easy? Why? Does my post seem defensive or angry, because it isn't, at all.[/QUOTE]


Yep!!

Lets get back to the central issue, is elastic.com successfully suing residents in Ohio?

Regarding message #2 from the anonymous attorney, whether or not the scheme of Urban Trust Bank in Florida making their loans via Elastic.com is technically legal is not important.

What is important is practical reality. Has Elastic.com actually been suing Ohio residents and actually winning the suits? That's all that matters.

How can we get the answer to this question?

No they aren't. Elastic is the same company as Payday One, except that they partnered up with Urban Trust to offer the Elastic product. I did a Lexis search and can't find any lawsuits filed in Ohio 9 or anywhere else for that matter. Of course, Lexis doesn't have a database for arbitrations, so if they are taking people to AAA, that's another story. And if they are, federal law requires states to enforce arbitration awards even if the arbitration decision isn't consistent with the state's substantive laws, i.e., a state has to enforce arbitration awards in favor of payday lenders even if the state outlaws payday loans. Fortunately, the costs of arbitrating are so much higher than the loan itself, that very few payday lenders even go this route. (Although they all make the threat . . .)

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I have continued to research this matter, and I found that elastic.com is a subsidiary of ThinkFinance. (They also own ThinkCash and Paydayone) Source: thinkfinance dot com. Note they are backed by top venture capital firms. That kind of a company would not go around operating illegally. So I am sure a loan from thinkcash is legal and needs to be paid back.

So the last question is why would Ohio consumer affairs dept say elastic.com is illegal (per message #1)? My guess is that was consumer affairs dept engaged in wishful thinking.

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