CFPB Reaches Settlement with FirstCash, Inc. and Its Subsidiaries for Military Lending Act Violations
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and FirstCash, Inc., along with its nineteen subsidiaries, resolved the CFPB’s November 12, 2021 lawsuit alleging violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA). The parties reached a settlement and jointly filed a stipulated final judgment and proposed order, which the court promptly entered the same day. The MLA puts in place protections for active duty servicemembers and certain dependents in connection with extensions of consumer credit. These protections include a maximum allowable annual percentage rate of 36%, a prohibition against required arbitration, and certain mandatory loan disclosures.
FirstCash, Inc. is a Delaware nonbank corporation, with its principal place of business in Fort Worth, Texas. FirstCash owns and operates over 1,000 retail pawnshops in the United States, offering pawn loans through its wholly owned corporate subsidiaries.
The CFPB alleged that since October 3, 2016, the defendants violated the MLA by making pawn loans to borrowers covered under the MLA with rates that exceeded the MLA’s maximum allowable annual percentage rate of 36%. The CFPB also alleged that the loan agreements with covered borrowers violated the MLA by requiring arbitration in the case of a dispute and by failing to make all required loan disclosures. The Bureau also alleged that the alleged violations of the MLA were violations of a 2013 Bureau order against a predecessor entity, Cash America International, Inc. On July 22, 2025, in light of this new settlement and order with FirstCash, the Bureau terminated that 2013 consent order with FirstCash’s predecessor entity, Cash America, because the predecessor entity has fulfilled its obligations under its 2013 Consent Order, including paying a civil money penalty of $5 million and providing redress to consumers. The predecessor entity no longer exists and the products addressed in the 2013 order are unconnected to the products of FirstCash.
The order requires the defendants to:
- Set aside $5 million to ensure full redress to harmed servicemembers and their family members in connection with thousands of unlawful pawn loans.
- Pay a $4 million fine to the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
- Comply with the MLA and either offer an MLA-compliant loan product to servicemembers and their families or comply with a regulatory safe harbor meant to screen for MLA-protected borrowers.
Editor’s Note: The news release was updated on July 22, 2025, to note that the stipulated final judgment and proposed order was entered by the court, resolving the lawsuit and that the Bureau subsequently terminated the 2013 consent order against Cash America, a predecessor of FirstCash, on July 22, 2025.