Attorney General Chris Carr announced that internet lender CashCall, Inc. has agreed to suspend collections on approximately $6.5 million in payday loans it and a related entity, Western Sky Financial, LLC, made to Georgia consumers between 2009 and 2013.  This comes as a result of a recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling that the State’s Payday Lending Act governs internet lenders, like CashCall and Western Sky Financial. The Supreme Court’s ruling allows the State’s case to move forward in the trial court, requires CashCall to place over $15 million collected from Georgia consumers in the registry of the court while the case is pending and permits the State to add additional parties as defendants in the action.   

“This is a victory for Georgia’s consumers,” says Attorney General Chris Carr. “The Supreme Court’s ruling makes it clear that out-of-state lenders cannot use the internet to circumvent Georgia law.  My office will continue to vigorously pursue predatory lenders who target Georgia consumers with illegal loan products.”

Assistant Attorneys General Charlene Swartz, Monica Sullivan, Andrew Chesser, and the Department of Law’s Counsel for Legal Policy Timothy Butler are representing the State of Georgia in this case.