Lawsuit Claims Simm Associates Attempts to Collect Debts for Non-Licensed Lenders

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Simm Associates, Inc. is the defendant in a proposed class action lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims the company attempts to collect on high-interest loans from lenders who are not licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). The plaintiff additionally claims the parties for whom the defendant attempts to collect debts do not have bank or credit union charter authorization to lend money to Illinois residents at an over nine-percent rate of interest.

According to the complaint, Simm Associates has been attempting to collect from the plaintiff on a high-interest, online loan allegedly owed to an outfit called Maxlend. The case charges Maxlend—whose over-the-Internet loans supposedly come with interest rates “in excess of 450 percent and as high as 840 percent,” according to the lawsuit—allegedly does not possess a license from the IDFPR, nor a state or federal banking or credit union charter allowing it to charge more than nine percent interest on its loans. Such loans are “void and unenforceable” under Illinois law, the suit claims.

The defendant allegedly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by recklessly disregarding that the loans on which it was attempting to collect were unenforceable. By demanding payment, the case argues, the defendant falsely implied to the plaintiff that the debt was legally enforceable.