Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit alleging a Delaware-based vehicle title lender violated its racketeering laws by charging illegally high interest rates.
The lawsuit against Dominion Management, which did business as CashPoint, seeks restitution estimated at over $3 million for more than 3,2000 Pennsylvanians, the release of over 1,000 remaining title liens, and civil penalties.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said CashPoint charged interest rates as high as 360 percent on title loans, which require borrowers to pledge a vehicle title as collateral. Shapiro said the company repossessed vehicles when people missed payments and charged fees of up to $1,000 to get their vehicles back.
In one case, an Allentown couple who borrowed $1,500 had six monthly payments of $450 per month, and they kept paying that amount for over a year because CashPoint demanded a $1,994 lump sum payment they couldn’t afford.
After CashPoint repossessed their car, the couple had to borrow $2,800 from family members to get it back. All told, Shapiro said the couple paid CashPoint and its repossession agent more than $10,000.
Shapiro said CashPoint repossessed at least 559 vehicles owned by Pennsylvanians since 2013. The company stopped originating new title loans last year.
Source: ABC27
