MoneyLion Technologies Inc., ML Plus, LLC, and other subsidiaries
On September 29, 2022, the Bureau filed a lawsuit against MoneyLion Technologies Inc. (MoneyLion), ML Plus, LLC, and 37 MoneyLion lending subsidiaries. The Bureau filed a first amended complaint on June 13, 2023. MoneyLion is a fintech company (formerly known as MoneyLion Inc.) that offers online installment loans and other products to consumers through its lending subsidiaries and membership programs through its subsidiary ML Plus. The Military Lending Act (MLA) contains a number of protections for active-duty servicemembers and their dependents, defined as “covered borrowers.” The Bureau alleges that MoneyLion and its lending subsidiaries violated the MLA by: imposing membership fees on covered borrowers that, when combined with loan-interest-rate charges, exceeded the MLA’s annual percentage rate cap; inserting illegal arbitration provisions into contracts; requiring covered borrowers to submit to arbitration or in the case of a dispute, to reject the arbitration provision within thirty days of the date of the contract; demanding that borrowers provide written notice rejecting the arbitration provision within thirty days of the date of the contract as a condition for legal action; and failing to make required disclosures to covered borrowers. The Bureau also alleges that MoneyLion, its lending subsidiaries, and ML Plus engaged in deceptive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by misrepresenting that covered borrowers owed loan payments and associated fees that they did not in fact owe because loan contracts were void from their inception. The Bureau further alleges that MoneyLion and ML Plus engaged in unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices by: not permitting consumers with unpaid loan balances to exit the membership program and stop monthly membership-fee charges; misrepresenting consumers’ right to cancel their memberships for any reason and not clearly disclosing these restrictions on membership cancellation when consumers took out loans; and continuing to charge and collect monthly membership fees after consumers had asked to cancel their memberships or terminate ACH-fee withdrawals. The Bureau seeks redress for consumers, injunctive relief, and a civil money penalty.
Related Documents
Press Release
CFPB Sues MoneyLion for Overcharging Servicemembers and Trapping Consumers in Costly Memberships