On June 23, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced that he had reached a settlement with Dominion Management Services, a vehicle title loan company that does business as CashPoint.  The agreement will result in CashPoint forgiving about $2.36 million in consumer loan debt, and releasing liens on hundreds of titles of vehicles owned by West Virginians.

Morrisey explained that the Division of Consumer Protection within his office had received complaints from West Virginia residents who had obtained title loans from Virginia-based CashPoint.  While title loans, under which consumers use their vehicle titles as collateral, are legal in Virginia, these short-term, high-interest loans are not permitted in West Virginia.

The Attorney General alleged that CashPoint had made harassing phone calls to customers, had disclosed information about debtors to third parties, and had seized vehicles using companies not licensed to do business in West Virginia.  CashPoint denied the allegations, but agreed to forgive the debts and clear the titles of 435 West Virginians.  The settlement also resulted in a payment of $85,000 to the Attorney General’s Office.

Three years ago, CashPoint settled claims by the Virginia Attorney General by providing refunds to over 800 customers.