Oregon

By ignoring state licensing and registration laws, a payday loan operation was shut down by the Department of Justice.

In February 2002, Attorney General Hardy Myers stated that an unlicensed payday loan business was forced out of operation after in Bend, Oregon after the Department of Justice obtained a temporary restraining order and filed suit in the Deschutes County Circuit Court.

It appears that A1 Cash Advance was using the courts to attempt to collect on loans in which it they had charged illegal amounts of interest. Court records proved that A1 Cash Advance had filed 153 cases seeking repayment of delinquent loans, in which the interest rates were 400 to 500 percent.

The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction against the defendants from operation of a short-term personal loan company in the state of Oregon. It also seeks the return of the illegally obtained interest collected on the loans from December 17, 1999.

Currently, people seeking information on payday loan providers in Oregon may speak with the Attorney General or seek help online at www.doj.state.or.us. Those living in Oregon may also check out the licenses of lenders by calling the Division of Finance and Corporate Securities at 503-378-4140.