Point-of-sale home improvement financing firm GreenSky will pay $10 million to settle claims that it deceived and exploited senior citizens and disabled people, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday.
Several attorneys general pursued action against Atlanta-based GreenSky following complaints regarding unauthorized loans, and about the firm’s oversight and training of businesses that offered financing through GreenSky.
Some of those businesses allegedly took out loans in consumers’ names without their consent, according to Alaska Acting AG Cori Mills.
Seniors, including those with dementia, were specifically targeted and “pressured into agreements they did not legally consent to,” Paxton’s office said.
“Any company operating predatory loan schemes that make life harder for Texans, including causing higher housing prices, will be forced to pay the price,” Paxton said in a prepared statement. “GreenSky broke the law, and now the company is being held accountable for taking advantage of consumers.”
A GreenSky spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the firm is “pleased to resolve this inquiry, which first commenced approximately six years ago under prior ownership.”
“The resolution is clear that GreenSky has not admitted any liability or wrongdoing, and the agreement largely aligns with the GreenSky Program’s current consumer protection processes that have been in place for several years, including account verification, loan terms disclosure, borrower complaint handling, and merchant oversight,” the spokesperson said.
Consumers alleged the firm did not cancel loans when requested and, in some instances, held consumers financially responsible for home improvement loans despite no services being performed.
The agreement prevents GreenSky from engaging in such conduct in the future, according to Paxton’s office. It also sets up a restitution process wherein GreenSky can provide affected consumers redress, according to Mills’ office.
Statements from Paxton and Mills did not indicate the time frame during which GreenSky’s alleged actions took place. The home-improvement lender, however, was owned by Goldman Sachs between 2022 and 2024.
Thursday’s settlement included attorneys general in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and the District of Columbia. As part of the settlement, GreenSky will pay a $575,000 civil penalty and will reimburse attorneys general for $2.9 million in attorneys’ fees and other costs. $6.5 million will go toward customer restitution.
GreenSky is also the subject of a class- action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to the law firm Gibbs Mura, which is one of the law firms representing plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs allege that GreenSky charges borrowers undisclosed and illegal fees, and acts as an unlicensed credit services organization, finance lender and broker in California.
