A “small dollar lender” which operates under the name “Quik Pawn Shop” (among others) faces a judgment of $1.5 million for failing to properly disclose finance charges associated with its auto title loans – but will likely only pay a third of that, according to a settlement agreement announced Thursday.
According to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as the CFPB), it has reached a settlement with Triton Management Group, Inc., which it described as a small-dollar lender operating in Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina under several names including “Always Money” and “Quik Pawn Shop.”
The bureau stated that it found Triton violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and the disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The violations resulted from, BCFP said, Triton’s failure to properly disclose finance charges associated with their auto title loans in Mississippi. “The Bureau also found that Triton used advertisements that failed to disclose the annual percentage rate and other information required by the Truth in Lending Act,” the agency stated.
Under the consent order, Triton and its subsidiaries are barred from misrepresenting the costs and other terms of their loans and must return unlawful fees paid by consumers, according to the bureau. BCFP added that the order enters a judgment of $1,522,298 against Triton, which represents the undisclosed finance charges consumers paid on their Triton loans.
However, the bureau noted that “as explained in the order, full payment of this amount is suspended subject to Triton’s paying $500,000 to affected consumers.”
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Settles with Triton Management Group