State Attorneys General

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On December 27, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (the Division) entered a consent order with Yellowstone Capital LLC (Yellowstone) and several related companies to resolve allegations that, in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, the company engaged in abusive lending practices in connection with Merchant Cash Advances to small business owners (MCAs). Pursuant to the settlement, Yellowstone must forgive all outstanding balances for customers who entered MCAs, which is estimated to be approximately $21.7 million, and pay more than $5.6 million to the Division for purposes that may include, restitution, attorneys’ fees, costs of investigation and litigation and costs of administering restitution, and penalties up to $250,000. The order also imposes additional requirements regarding Yellowstone’s agreements and collections activity discussed below.

Since July 2022, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (NJDCA) secured six settlements — totaling over $260,000 — with six different New Jersey car dealerships for allegedly violating consumer protection laws by:

  • Not listing vehicles’ prior accidents, damage, and repairs;
  • Not honoring a used car’s advertised price;
  • Charging excessive vehicle preparation fees not itemized

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As discussed here, on October 19, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. (CFSA) v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) held that the CFPB’s funding mechanism violates the appropriations clause because the CFPB does not receive its funding from annual congressional appropriations like most executive agencies, but…

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in partnership with the Department of Justice, announced two settlements with providers for Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program), following allegations under state and federal false claims acts that the providers submitted fraudulent claims to the government from 2014 through 2016. Consequently, Dignity Health, Twin Cities Community Hospital, and Sierra Vista Regional…

The New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recently announced two agreements with White Glove Community Care, Inc. (White Glove). One agreement reached with OAG’s Labor Bureau involved unpaid wages to White Glove’s workers. The second agreement entered with OAG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit concerned false claims the company allegedly submitted to Medicaid.

The…

At its December 7 annual Capital Forum event, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) announced its Miller-Wasden Unity Award in honor of outgoing Attorneys General Tom Miller (D-IA) and Lawrence Wasden (R-ID). As the award’s namesakes, both AGs received the inaugural award, which recognizes AGs for their service and commitment to bipartisanship and…

Recently, 45 state attorneys general sent a joint letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, requesting the permanent extension of nationwide “telemedicine” prescriptions for opioid treatment buprenorphine made possible under a soon-to-expire 2020 pandemic rule. Sent on the National Association of Attorneys General’s letterhead, the letter signals many of…

With Democratic Kris Mayes leading Republican Abe Hamadeh by 510 votes, Arizona law requires an automatic recount in the race for Arizona attorney general.

Hamadeh is a former prosecutor and intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. Mayes is a former Republican and Arizona corporation commissioner who says she seeks to build a broad coalition…

Enacted in 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) nationalized the regulation of the horseracing industry. HISA delegates power to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (Authority) — a private entity that operates under the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) oversight — to establish new rules, issue subpoenas, and enforce regulations with civil sanctions or…