in Newswire Published on March 18, 2022

Alliant Credit Union Illegally Denied Auto Loan to DACA Recipient Due to ‘Residency Status,’ Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]

Last Updated on May 23, 2024

Camacho v. Alliant Credit Union

Filed: March 16, 2022 ◆§ 5:22-cv-01690

A class action alleges Alliant Credit Union has denied full access to loan products and services to certain applicants based on their immigration status or alienage, including to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.

Defendant(s)

Alliant Credit Union

Law(s)

Unruh Civil Rights Act

State(s)

California

May 23, 2024 – Alliant Credit Union Lawsuit Settled for $86,750

On April 15, 2024, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $86,750 settlement that will resolve the Alliant Credit Union class action lawsuit detailed on this page.

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According to court documents, the deal will cover 95 individuals who applied for a consumer credit product with Alliant from March 16, 2020 through July 31, 2023 and were denied a loan due to their immigration or residency status at the time they applied and whose valid and unexpired immigration status at the time they applied was either DACA recipient, H4 visa holder (without the corresponding H1-B, H-2B, or H3 visa holder to which it is dependent) or asylum applicant.

For purposes of the settlement, a “consumer credit product” from Alliant includes automotive loans, Visa credit cards, home equity lines of credit and unsecured loans.

The plaintiff’s motion for preliminary settlement approval says the 28 class members who lived in California when they applied for a loan from Alliant will each receive a check for $2,500. The 67 class members who lived in states other than California at the time they applied will each receive a check for $250.

Covered individuals do not need to take any action to get their share of the settlement fund. Instead, a check will be automatically mailed to their last known address, the motion says.

Also as part of the deal, Alliant has agreed to update its underwriting policies so that future applicants will not be denied consumer credit products based solely on their immigration status.

A final approval hearing is scheduled for August 15, 2024. Payments will be distributed to eligible class members if the court grants final approval to the deal, and after any appeals or objections are resolved.

ClassAction.org will update this page when the official Alliant Credit Union settlement website is launched, so be sure to check back often.

Are you owed unclaimed settlement money? Check out our class action rebates page full of open class action settlements.

A proposed class action alleges Alliant Credit Union has wrongfully denied full access to loan products and services to certain applicants based on their immigration status or alienage, including to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

The plaintiff, a Salinas, California resident, alleges in the 11-page suit that when she informed Alliant during the loan application process that she was a DACA recipient, she was told by a representative that the credit union does “not lend on DACA status.” The Alliant rep told the plaintiff, whose loan application had been pre-approved by Alliant, that her husband, a U.S. citizen and co-signer on the auto loan, would have to submit another application solely in his own name and remove her from the application, the lawsuit claims.

During the application process, Alliant sought to determine the plaintiff’s foreign-national status by requesting that she upload either I-797 or I-94 forms if she was a visa holder, a permanent resident card if she was a permanent resident, or a naturalization certificate if she was a naturalized citizen, the lawsuit states. According to the suit, when the plaintiff, who received DACA status in 2012, informed Alliant through its messaging portal that she was not a visa holder, permanent resident or naturalized citizen, but a DACA recipient, the woman was told that the credit union does not lend on DACA status and that her husband would need to submit a new application without her name.

The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff then received from Alliant an adverse action notice that stated the principal reason for being denied the loan, which the consumer applied for in order to finance the purchase of a Tesla vehicle, was due to her “residency status.”

“Alliant’s denial of her application caused [the plaintiff] to feel discriminated against and excluded from participating in commerce in the United States,” the complaint reads. “[The plaintiff] suffered harm and emotional distress as a result of Alliant’s unlawful denial of her application.”

The lawsuit alleges Alliant has violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by refusing to provide the plaintiff and others an opportunity to apply for financial products due to their immigration status.

The case looks to represent all persons who resided in the United States at the relevant time they applied for or attempted to apply for a financial product from Alliant but were denied full and equal consideration by Alliant on the basis of alienage.

The plaintiff also looks to represent all persons who resided in California at the relevant time they applied for or attempted to apply for a financial product from Alliant but were denied full and equal consideration by Alliant on the basis of their immigration status.

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