EAST ST. LOUIS - Katherine Schnefke of Edwardsville, who last year settled a claim that online lender First Loan charged 777% interest, filed another claim that online lender Avail Blue charged 712%.
Schnefke's counsel Daniel Edelman of Chicago filed a complaint against website owner LDF Holdings and its president Jessi Lee Phillips Lorenzo at U.S. district court on Feb. 5.
Edelman claimed Avail Blue made the loan on May 17, 2021, for personal purposes.
He proposed a statewide class action and wrote, “All loans made by Defendants to Illinois residents are void.”
He claimed LDF Holdings is chartered under tribal law and claims to be wholly owned by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
He added that the band is an isolated and economically depressed tribe in Wisconsin.
Edelman claimed Lorenzo resides in Florida and isn’t a member of the tribe.
He also sought damages from Mark Koetting as financier of loans and Rick Gwynne as director of recovery and collection.
He claimed neither Koetting nor Gwynne is a member of the tribe.
He defined the class as all individuals with Illinois addresses to whom defendants made loans at more than 36% interest.
Edelman represented Schnefke last August in a separate suit when she filed a class action complaint against First Loan and owner Stanley Chao of Florida.
He claimed First Loan made a loan to Schnefke on Oct. 14, 2021.
In November, his colleague Matthew Goldstein moved to dismiss Schnefke’s claims with prejudice and dismiss claims of the potential class without prejudice.
Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty granted the motion.
The court clerk randomly assigned the current suit to Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison.