Online lenders have used the Avant and Marlette settlements as a model, choosing to get a state license and be supervised by Colorado financial regulators. Those fintechs are considered the “true lender” in a transaction, not their out-of-state bank partners.
But the settlements addressed misconduct only after it occurred, said Ellen Harnick, the director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending. The Colorado bill that opts out of DIDMCA provisions prevents violations of Colorado interest-rate laws from happening in the first place, she said.
