A judge yesterday gave the green light to consumer lawyers who want to pursue class action treatment for one million people who they say were victimized by predatory lending at the hands of Think Finance LLC, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The decision by Judge Harlin Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas was a win for lawyers in Virginia, Florida, California and nationwide, who were suing Think Finance when it filed for chapter 11 protection in October 2017. Fewer than 5,000 consumers responded to a call for bankruptcy claims, and each of those people would have had to debate Think Finance in court over the merits of their claims if Judge Hale had sided with the company in the quarrel over whether class proofs of claim would be allowed. Think Finance denies victimizing consumers, and insists it is just a financial services technology provider that facilitates online lending by others. However, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and consumer lawyers sued, accusing Think Finance of using Native American tribes as fronts to make otherwise-illegal loans to desperate, low-income people.
