University of Wisconsin - Consumer Law Clinic Victory

Professor Marsha Mansfield, the Director of the Economic Justice Institute at the University of Wisconsin Law School recently shared the following victory with the clinical law community:

"I am very proud to share the news of a great victory by our Consumer Law Clinic at the U.W. Law School. Yesterday a circuit court judge approved a settlement in a class action against Tremont Financial, LLC, an internet payday lender. This case started in 2007 and was capably handled by our Consumer Clinic students, directed first by Steve Meili and then his successor Sarah Orr. The state of Wisconsin joined the action to enforce the Wisconsin Consumer Act. The class is 134 members and, as part of the settlement, Tremont has ceased lending operations in Wisconsin and has agreed to write off any outstanding amounts owed (principal and fees), file satisfactions of any judgments obtained in collecting these sums, contact any consumer reporting agency to which it reported negative information and request deletion of that information. In addition, Tremont will pay damages to the named plaintiff and the class, attorneys fees and costs. This is a significant victory in a state where pay day loans are all too common."

-jl