GreenSky agreed to pay $10 million to a multistate coalition of attorneys general over a scheme in which its merchant network issued home-improvement loans in consumers’ names without their consent, including borrowers with dementia who were “pressured into agreements they did not legally consent to.”
Alaska Acting AG Cori Mills and Texas AG Ken Paxton led a six-state action also covering Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and D.C. The complaints centered on GreenSky-affiliated businesses that opened loans without consumer consent, then left borrowers on the hook for services never performed.
The $10 million breaks down as: $6.5 million to customer restitution, $2.9 million to reimburse AG offices for attorneys’ fees and costs, and $575,000 in civil penalties. GreenSky won’t admit liability. I read the company’s statement; it said the inquiry “first commenced approximately six years ago under prior ownership” and that current consumer protection processes have been in place “for several years.”
Goldman Sachs owned GreenSky from 2022 through 2024. Six years back from 2026 puts the original complaints at 2020, before Goldman’s acquisition. But neither Texas nor Alaska specified when the conduct occurred, so GreenSky’s “prior ownership” defense is doing meaningful legal work in a factual vacuum.
A separate class action certified in California’s Northern District, case 3:20-cv-01693-JSC, alleges GreenSky charged undisclosed merchant fees averaging 7% of loan amounts and operated without a California Financing Law registration. Worth reading the certification order before finalizing any lending platform compliance review this quarter.
Rebecca Lauren