On June 12, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to answer questions certified by the Ninth Circuit in De La Torre v. CashCall, no. S241434. As explained in the Ninth Circuit's order, De La Torre is a certified class action asserting a UCL "unlawful" prong claim based on alleged violations of Finance Code provisions concerning interest rates.
The Supreme Court's website frames the issue as follows:
Can the interest rate on consumer loans of $2,500 or more governed by California Finance Code section 22303 render the loans unconscionable under section 22302?
The eventual opinion may or may not end up addressing the UCL directly. According to the Ninth Circuit's order, one of the defendant's arguments was that California law "only recognize[s] unconscionability as a defense to a suit by a lender, not an affirmative UCL action for restitution." Another was that section 22303 creates a Cel-Tech "safe harbor."
Comments