CRL, The Public Good Law Center, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates filed an amicus brief supporting an appeal by plaintiffs asserting that loans made by the payday lender CashCall were unconscionable and violated California's Unfair Competition Law.
Courts and the common law have long recognized that excessive interest rates and prices are unconscionable and therefore "unfair" and "unlawful." Under the terms of loans made by CashCall, borrowers taking out $2,600 loans would pay $11,000 to pay them back if carried to full term—over four times the amount originally borrowed.