OppFi Files Lawsuit for Declaratory Relief and Injunction Against California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Commissioner | Business

OppFi Files Lawsuit for Declaratory Relief and Injunction Against California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Commissioner |  Business

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 8, 2022–

Opfi Inc.. (“OppFi” or the “Company”) (NYSE: OPFI), a leading financial technology platform that helps everyday consumers access credit, today announced that it has filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Commissioner of the Department of Finance Protection and Innovation for the State of California. The lawsuit was filed on March 7, 2022 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

OppFi is seeking a statement that interest rate caps set forth in California law do not apply to loans issued by OppFi banking partners and serviced through the OppFi technology platform.

The company released the following statement:

Last year, a federal judge in the Northern District of California confirmed that loans made by OppFi’s banking partners are not subject to California interest rate laws because these loans are made by a bank in state charter provided by the federal government. In addition, California recently lost its lawsuit against the FDIC where the Court ruled that the disputed FDIC settlement, which confirmed that interest charged by state-chartered banks remained permitted after any sale or assignment, had been validly issued. Notwithstanding these rulings, the DFPI Commissioner threatened to wrongly apply these interest rate laws against OppFi. OppFi sued to stop the commissioner’s unlawful attempt to enforce unenforceable laws. OppFi is requesting this statement so that it can continue to serve the nearly 7.2 million Californians 1 in need of credit.

As one of the highest rated digital financial platforms by customers with a Net Promoter Score of 85, which is far above its peers and leading retail brands, OppFi is focused on serving millions of consumers who are locked out and unable to qualify for traditional forms of credit. OppFi provides technology and other services to state-chartered and FDIC-insured banks to help them provide affordable and safe loans to consumers. Borrowers who take out a loan from one of OppFi’s partner banks are underwritten according to criteria provided by the banking partner which ensures that borrowers have the ability to repay and that each payment repays the principal. In addition, OppFi reports to all three credit bureaus and through the OppFi TurnUp program, OppFi offers consumers access to certain loan products below 36% APR offered by third parties if the consumer qualifies.

Loans made through the OppFi platform are constitutionally and statutorily exempt from California’s maximum interest rate caps, as the loans are made by FinWise Bank, Member FDIC, a state-chartered bank located in Utah . It is a well-established federal law that allows state chartered banks to export the interest rates allowed in their charter state to any other state in the country. By enacting AB 539, the legislature expressly acknowledged the obvious: AB 539 does not apply to “non-custodians who partner with banks”, such as OppFi. OppFi strongly believes that its practices are legal under California and federal law, and the company looks forward to having its position upheld in court.

1Source: Hamdani, Kausar, et al. “INEQUAL ACCESS TO CREDIT The Hidden Impact of Credit Constraints.” NewYorkFed.org, 2019 (~60 million) and based on the adult population of California is approximately 12% of the adult population of the United States. which equals ~7.2 million; https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA and https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/US-states-population.htm.

About OpFi

OppFi (NYSE: OPFI) is a leading financial technology platform that enables banks to deliver accessible products and a premium experience to everyday consumers. OppFi’s platform facilitates an installment loan product, OppLoans. The company has been an Inc. 5000 for five consecutive years, four times Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, and the seventh fastest growing company in Chicagoland in 2021 by Crain’s Chicago Business. The company was also on Forbes America’s 2021 list of America’s Top Startup Employers and Built In Chicago’s 2021 Best Workplaces list. OppFi maintains an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) ​​and maintains a 4.8/5 star rating with over 14,000 online customer reviews, making it one of the most popular online financial platforms. top rated by customers. For more information, please visit oppfi.com.

Forward-looking statements

This information includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. OppFi’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and, accordingly, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect”, “estimate”, “project”, “budget”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “may”, “will” , “could”, “should”, “believes”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continues” and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Many of these factors are beyond OppFi’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: whether OppFi will be successful in obtaining a declaratory judgment against the Commissioner of the State of California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation; whether OppFi will be subject to AB 539; whether OppFi’s banking partners will continue to lend in California; and whether OppFi’s funding sources will ‘OppFi will continue to fund the purchase of participation rights in loans issued by OppFi’s banking partners in California; the impact of COVID-19 on OppFi’s business; the ability to recognize the expected benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition; OppFi’s ability to grow and manage growth profitably and retain its key employees; costs related to the business combination; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that OppFi will be affected by economic, business and/or competitive factors; the effects of managerial transitions; and other risks and uncertainties noted from time to time in OppFi’s filings with the SEC, including those listed under “Risk Factors”. OppFi cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive and that readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. OppFi neither undertakes nor accepts any obligation or undertaking to publicly release updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances about which any such statement is made. based.

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KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA ILLINOIS

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING SOFTWARE MOBILE/WIRELESS NETWORKS INTERNET PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DATA MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY SECURITY OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINANCE OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

SOURCE: OpFi

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PUBLISHED: 03/08/2022 16:05 / DISK: 03/08/2022 16:06

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Amanda P. Whitten