OneMain Financial rips AGs lawsuit alleging deceptive practices by the lender

ROCHESTER - A spokesman for OneMain Financial rebuffed an Attorney Generals' lawsuit over allegations that the financial institutions uses deceptive practices in its dealing with customers.

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella along with 12 of his fellow state Attorneys General announced on Monday that they had brought a lawsuit against OneMain and its related entities regarding the installment lender charging consumers nationwide hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden fees and interest.

"The states' allegations are simply untrue - their case is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law and attempts to relitigate issues that were already reviewed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and fully resolved," Howard Schloss of OneMain told The Rochester Voice on Tuesday. "We operate honestly and transparently, in full compliance with all laws and regulations, as we provide responsible and much needed access to credit for hardworking Americans."

OneMain operates five branches throughout New Hampshire including one at 120 Washington St. in Rochester.

According to the state Attorney Generals Office, OneMain Financial advertises installment loans, but it packs those loans with often worthless insurance policies and other add-on products. As a result of these hidden add-ons the cost of OneMain's subprime loans, which are already high interest, is inflated by hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The lawsuit contends that OneMain often hides the add-ons, sometimes misrepresents them, or even charges consumers who outright reject them.

"Our complaint alleges that OneMain marketed installment loans to Granite Staters seeking financial relief, then increased the cost of those loans through add-on products that consumers did not clearly request or knowingly agree to," Formella said.

The lawsuit alleges the following about OneMain's bait and switch scheme:

OneMain does not advertise that it sells add-on products, so consumers who come through its doors will not expect the company to push these products.
OneMain rushes consumers through the loan process without allowing the consumer to understand, or sometimes even notice, that add-on products have been added to their loans.
OneMain operates an elaborate sales process that purports to disclose the products, but the company puts financial pressure on its employees to hide the add-ons.
OneMain pre-populates its loans with every possible add-on product before rushing through a loan closing process in which its employees control the computer screen that shows the loan documents. This does not allow the consumer time to review each page of the loan application as the employee scrolls through the contract.
OneMain buries the fine print that mentions the add-on products inside 50 pages of legalese, which OneMain prevents consumers from reading before accepting the loan contract.
OneMain often closes loans on smart phones, where already small print shrinks to 1/3 its normal size.
OneMain also misleads consumers when encouraging them to refinance their loans by tacking on add-on products and by hiding key terms. As a result, consumers only discover how much they are paying for the loans after the loans have been completed.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Formella and the coalition are seeking restitution for consumers who were unlawfully charged for these add-on products, penalties for violating state laws, and to release all unlawful profits. The lawsuit also seeks a court order preventing OneMain from continuing its illegal practices and ordering OneMain to withdraw any negative information reported to credit agencies that may impact its customers' credit scores and to abandon any legal proceedings against customers related to the add-on loan products.

Formella urges anyone who wants to file a complaint with the New Hampshire Department of Justice, visit https://www.doj.nh.gov/consumer/complaints.

Meanwhile, Schloss said that despite the AGs' claims, OneMain Financial will continue its mission to facilitate needed loans to hard working Granite Staters.

"This matter does not change how we operate our business or serve our customers," Schloss said. "We will litigate this case vigorously and look forward to proving the truth in court."