Publications

In the Supreme Court of Texas. On Petition for Review from the Fourth Court of Appeals, San Antonio, Texas: Cause No. 04-15-00469-CV. Amicus Curiae’s Brief of Texas Appleseed in Support of Petitioners. Hiawatha Henry, Addie Harris, Montray Norris and Roosevelt Coleman, Jr., on behalf of themselves and for all other similarly situated (Petitioners) v. Cash Biz, LP, Cash Zone, LLC D/B/A Cash Biz and Redwood Financials, LLC (Appellees). Brief Excerpt: Texas Appleseed supports Petitioners before this Court because this dispute illustrates how payday, auto title, and other small-dollar loan arrangers and lenders, like Respondents, exploit the public’s legal system for private, commercial gains to the detriment and harm of all Texans. After using the public’s criminal justice system to help collect private, civil debts from borrowers, these loan arrangers and lenders seek to deprive disadvantaged borrowers of the recourse afforded by public civil courts by compelling costly, individual arbitration, and by preventing these borrowers from banding together to litigate common complaints against them. Such practices enable commercial lenders and loan arrangers to recover private debts using the public resources supported by tax dollars, and then, when the legality of their collection practices is challenged, shield their wrongful conduct from public scrutiny and themselves from liability by demanding that the courts refer the disputes to private, cost-prohibitive arbitrations.