Your Cash Award under the terms of the Settlement will depend on how much you paid on your AWL loan, the state in which you resided when you took out your loan, and the amount of money available in the Settlement Fund. You will only get a proportionate share of the total settlement cash, not a full refund of the amount of money you paid over principal, because the total amount of Settlement funds available to be distributed will not allow class members to receive a full refund. The amount of your Cash Award is also based on the fact that more than 784,082 loans – representing more than 367,600 other class members – are eligible for a Cash Award.

State laws vary as to what types of loans are permissible, under what conditions they are permissible, and the remedies available to consumers. As a result, the proposed settlement provides for a Cash Award Formula that reflects certain differences in the way state laws treat potential recoveries. These differences in state law will be taken into account in determining the amount of your cash payment (if any) according to the following:

Cash Award Formula. The Settlement Administrator shall, for each Settlement Class Member eligible to receive a Cash Award, determine a “base damages” amount and distribute the Net Monetary Consideration by paying each Settlement Class Member a pro rata share determined by the Cash Award Formula set forth herein. The base damages calculation shall be derived from loan-by-loan data, excluding any loan for which payments did not exceed the amount of the loan. In addition, Settlement Class Members shall be classified by their state of residence at the time their loan was made, in accordance with the following categories:

Tier One: Tier One states are ones where Plaintiffs and Objectors agree that state law (a) treats the collection of principal on allegedly illegal loans as unlawful, as as the collection of interest on such loans, and/or (b) provides strong remedies that exceed those available under RICO. Tier One states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Settlement Class Members who resided in a Tier One state at the time their loan was made shall have their base damages determined by the amount of interest paid above the original loan amount, plus one half (1/2) of the principal paid on their loan, except for the District of Columbia, where, in accordance with the law there, only one quarter (1/4) of the principal shall be included.

Tier Two: Tier Two states are Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin. Settlement Class Members who resided in a Tier Two state at the time their loan was made shall have their base damages determined by the amount of interest paid above the original loan amount.

Tier Three. Tier Three states are ones where Plaintiffs and Objectors agree that, under the law of such states, there is neither an interest rate ceiling nor licensing requirement for small consumer loans like those involved here. Tier Three states include Nevada and Utah. Settlement Class Members who resided in a Tier Three state at the time their loan was made shall not receive a Cash Award.

You are able to check the class member portal, https://www.awlsettlement.com/Home/Portal, to determine if you are eligible to receive a Cash Award and to obtain a preliminary estimate of your cash recovery under the Settlement, as well as to see whether you are eligible for cancellation of an outstanding loan.