"According to a class-action suit, Johnson County businessman Scott Tucker for years has presided over a vast web of Internet payday loan operations. A separate lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission alleges that those operations seek to deceive and entrap consumers.

Tucker, 50, seeks glory on the auto racing circuit and flies between his home in Leawood’s pricey Hallbrook neighborhood to his $8 million vacation home in Aspen, Colo., on a private Learjet.

According to the FTC lawsuit, Tucker and affiliated businesses and individuals make short-term loans. But instead of claiming a one-time finance charge on an agreed-upon date, the companies gain access to consumers’ bank accounts and make multiple withdrawals, assessing a new finance charge every time.

In a typical example, a consumer borrowed $300 and received a loan disclosure stating she would pay a $90 finance charge. So the loan should have cost $390. By the time the woman closed down her account, it had been drained of $735."

Get the Story:
Barb Shelly: Indian tribe ‘employee’ thrives on payday loans (The Kansas City Star 5/18)

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